Unfaithful
by Axcented Caffyne
Summary: "Mail Matthew Jeevas, you may kiss the bride!" Matt doesn't know what to think about his relationship with Jessebell, doesn't know what to think about a lot of things. When his work sends him to a certain blonde's condo, he chooses not to think at all.
1. Prologue

CaffinatedCaffy- All your base are belong to us!

Axcent- That being said, you are now at our mercy. Review, for you are our minions.

And, er... the important stuff. This is a joint fic between the above people. Neither of us own Death Note, which accounts for it's lack of yaoi.

More importantly... Jessebell is a whore. End of story.

Wedding

Matt appraised himself in the mirror, wondering if he really should go through with this whole wedding business. After all, he could just not get married, they could live together - 'Ugh, living together... Imagine how neat she'll want to be.' Matt adjusted his black bow tie, suffocating from the strain it was putting on his neck. He could already hear the fucking bells ringing, the violin, and all that other God damned shit that they play in churches...

'When was the last time I was in a church?' Matt thought to himself. Regardless of the last time he had been in a church, Matt was in one now, and very soon he would be out there, in front of countless people (mostly the bride's family, though there was a good portion of Matt's there, as well) all intent on him and Jessebell marrying today.

Really, Jessebell was a gorgeous woman. Matt could only imagine what she would look like in her wedding dress. But there was something about their relationship that was lackluster. They were missing something, but both needed to get married, and probably start a family. Matt groaned out loud, getting somewhat frantic about the wedding.

"What seems to be the problem? Is Matt having cold feet?" Near, Matt's best man, snickered slightly as he noticed Matt's anxiety.

Near was wearing a completely white suit, and Matt was also wearing a completely suit of crisp alabaster, with a deep red bow tie and handkerchief sticking out of his left breast pocket. Matt groaned for the umpteenth time that day. 'That woman has an obsession with white...' Matt thought angrily. "I'm just a little apprehensive, is all," Matt assured the white haired man.

"In that case, Matt should head out to the chapel. It's time for Matt's wedding to begin. I'll be following behind." Near motioned for Matt to lean down so he could whisper in his ear. "Good luck."

Matt walked out to the chapel, and saw everyone getting seated in the many pews. The pastor was at the front, getting ready for the ceremony. Matt stood at the altar now, with Near flanked at his side.

Suddenly, everyone grew quiet. It was time. A very cute four year old came twirling down the aisle, throwing rose petals on the ground. Then the bridesmaids (who are, in Matt's opinion, foul creatures who claim to be the bride's 'best friends') walked in, wearing deep red, full length gowns with corsages on their wrists. Matt's currently resided on the collar of his tuxedo jacket.

Afterwards, the wedding march started, and the bride walked in, guided by her graying father. She was in an elegant white dress, with an empire waist and what could only be described as a poof for the whole bottom half of the gown. She had a long train, that was held by two of her nephews. Her long, sandy blonde hair was done up in an elaborate mess of curls atop her head, and a veil was placed atop it. She had simple makeup on, accentuating her pale green eyes. In her hands was a large bouquet full of deep red poinsettias and some baby's breath.

Jessebell's father was giving her up to Matt now. 'It would be smart to keep her safe, Matt. Just give up and resign. Have some kids...' Matt sucked in a deep breath as he saw Jessebell approach him, and stop arm's length away. He pulled her veil up over her face, just like they had practiced, and waited for the pastor to speak. The pastor opened up with a paragraph written by Shakespeare that Jessebell had picked out, about love. Then, the real ceremony began.

"Hello and welcome! We gathered together here in the family to celebrate the love which Jessebell McMahon and Mail Matthew Jeevas have for each other, to give social recognition to their decision to commit their lives and accept each other completely, to learn how to help and understand each other, to build a family, and together, to travel through life.

"If any of you has anything to say that might change their minds… they… don't want to hear it." Everyone laughed slightly at the pastor's small joke. "However, they do want to hear from you that you are their village, that you will always be their family, and will always support and encourage them as they discover the commitment and dedication needed to make marriage work. And that is why you are here today."

Matt was sweating bullets, he was so nervous. But he continued to listen to the pastor, answering with a small "Yes," or "I do," when necessary.

"So Bride and Groom, please focus your attention on one another and also answer my questions:

"Jesseblell, 'Do you take Mail to be your wedded husband, to share your life openly, standing with him, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and to love, so long as you both shall live?'

"Mail, 'Do you take Jessebll to be your wedded wife, to share your life openly, standing with her, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and to love, so long as you both shall live?'"

"Best Man, may we have the rings please?" Near walked over with two gold rings, and gave them to the pastor.

"Mail, as you place this ring on Jessebell's hand, please say your vows."

Matt swallowed the lump in his throat, and began to speak. He had rehearsed this! He knew what he was doing. " I take you, Jessebell, to be the Zelda to my Link, to fight monsters and to rescue you, my princess, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in low and high HP, to love and to cherish, 'till all our lives are gone do us part." Matt slipped the ring on Jessebell's finger. It was shaking. She seemed terribly mad about Matt's personalized vows. Her jaw was clenched shut.

"Jessebell as you place this ring on Mail's hand, please say your vows." The pastor said.

"I take you, Mail, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and, in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part." Jessebell took the ring and placed it on Matt's finger.

The pastor cleared his throat, ready to make the final announcement. "Mr. Jeevas, you may kiss your bride." Matt pulled Jessebell close, capturing her lips in a prolonged peck.

"I am honored to present to you, Jessebell and Mail Jeevas!" The pastor cried.

Soon enough, Jessebell and Matt's arms were linked, running down the aisle. People were waiting outside, and little children were blowing bubbles, adults were throwing rice, and they were desperately trying to get into the limousine to get to the reception.

"We're married!" Jessebell cried happily, throwing her arms around Matt.

"Yes, yes we are," Matt smiled, somewhat surprised that he wasn't getting yelled at for his vows. Perhaps she's on an after-wedding high?

Matt and Jessebell did all the things at a reception that normal newly wed couples did. They drank tons of champagne, did toasts, ate cake, and danced the night away! Soon enough the reception was over, and the couple was back in a limousine, kissing and on their way to the airport.

Matt and Jessebell boarded the airplane, still in their wedding attire. They took turns changing into comfortable clothes, and Matt helped Jessebell gather the bobby pins out of her hair. Soon enough a stewardess came by, asking if they would like anything to eat or drink.

'Damn, either it's the champagne I was drinking or just me, but this woman is hot! Way hotter than Jessebell...'

Matt looked down the stewardess' cleavage and then cleared his throat, ordering two ginger ales for him and Jessebell. They slept the rest of the flight, eager to reach their destination...

* * *

The hotel was classy. The floor was marble, twisting white and beige and black shining under fancy chandeliers. The desk was mahogany, and the man behind it looked like he was fresh out of a cookie cutter in his black suit - a perfect copy of every other hotel front desk worker. Jessebell gushed over the "beauty", clutching Matt's hand and grinning ear to ear. Matt sighed. She wasn't the one who had to pay.

"Welcome to-" The man started, his chin lifted a fraction of an inch higher than was normal.

"Yeah, cool." Matt cut through his sentence, ignoring Jessebell's scoff as well as the apologetic look she shot at the man. "We just need our key."

The man seemed taken aback. He looked at the exasperated Matt, then he looked at the over excited Jessebell. He asked for their names. His chin returned to a place of normal carriage. His voice turned cold as he thanked them for choosing the Delaroux, and he dropped the fake accent. His moustache quivered.

Matt twirled the key card between his fingers, dropping it several times along the way and receiving numerous dirty looks from the woman who was now his wife as well as the people passing them, who all seemed to be heading out to the beach area.

"Matt!" Jessebell hissed to him as they walked, her fingers still clinging to his. "Take off those goggles! This is not the time!"

Matt couldn't quite remember when she had become his mother. He left the eyeware dangling around his neck, a compromise, and kept walking, ignoring the other guests as they scurried around, most clinging to each other. Jessebell was watching them, the glint in her eye jealous, her steps bringing her closer and closer to her husband and her arm wrapping around his. Matt wondered vaguely if what they had was different from the other couples. He liked Jessebell, sure, when she wasn't making him wake up before noon. She was pretty, lively, nice when she wasn't snubbing his cigarettes, and very much in love with him.

"We're this way, Matt." Jessebell cooed, pulling him towards a silver elevator. "Aren't you excited to see our suite?" She poked the "up" button repeatedly, as though that would make the lift arrive faster.

"I hope there's a TV." The redhead bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to see up to a secret looking level that opened into the main hall like a balcony. There seemed to be people up there. He wondered how to reach it.

Jessebell pulled him through the elevator doors when they opened, and the view was blocked. "Don't be silly!" She purred, tipping her lips to his ear. "You won't need a TV tonight." Her long sandy hair brushed across Matt's cheek before she pulled away, tucking her shoulders under his arm.

"No, I guess not." Matt agreed, looking around the elevator. He was gripped by a sudden need to push all the buttons. So he did, laughing lightly at the way they lit up like a many windowed house.

Jessebell was not amused. She crossed her arms. She pouted. She glared at the playful look Matt was giving her under his bangs. She snatched his goggles away from around his neck. "There's no way I'm having sex with you if you're going to be so immature." She told him sternly, straightening her dress. Matt could've sworn she pulled the neck line lower.

"Sex?" He repeated, confusion swirling in the exposed green of his eyes, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Yes, Matt." Jessebell smiled at him. "What else?"

Matt tucked his hands into his pockets, mourning the loss of his goggles - he had to get those back sometime soon. "Well, I was going to go exploring."

The elevator doors slid open just in time for Matt to escape the death glare of his new wife, just in time for him to leave the small space without becoming a victim of the anger welling up inside her. He hurried down the hallway, feeling the emotion from his wife without a need for words. He knew he must have said something terribly wrong, he just couldn't really understand what.

When both people stopped in front of the door, Matt dug inside his pockets for the room key, finally locating it and sliding it through the handle. Jessebell went from being furious to being bubbly again, jumping ahead of Matt into the room and pulling him in after her by the neck. The soft beige of the carpet was Matt's first view of the room as his head was yanked down and he stumbled across it, trying to recover composure and uncurling himself from Jessebell's grip.

His second view of the room was the one king sized bed, it's covers a deep scarlet. It was covered in heart shaped pillows and rose petals. Matt suppressed a giggle as his eyes traveled over the rest of the room. Everything was heart themed and the colour scheme was predictably red and pink. As Jessebell slid into the bathroom, throwing Matt a wink and shimmying her narrow shoulders, the redhead noted with pure glee that there was a large flat screen television sitting in a corner, a single pure white couch placed in front of it.

Smiling broadly, he approached the electronic and ran his pale fingers over it's top. Then a sudden realization hit him. He had no cords to connect his game consoles with! Straightening, Matt bit his lip. Maybe the front desk had some? It wouldn't hurt to check the secret balcony-floor too... He nodded. This was important. Jessebell wouldn't mind him searching for video game cables. She understood his love for games, didn't she?

Matt turned on the heel of his dress shoes and hurried out the door, slipping through before he could see his wife coming out of the bathroom in a short silk dress. Then he wandered up the hallway, wondering which of the doors he passed lead the way to the secret balcony-floor. He felt like Ash, searching the endless corridors of a gym to find the gym leader and battle him... in return for electronic cords. He suppressed an excited giggle as he continued on his journey.

The redhead passed an unimaginable amount of time opening doors and walking numerous hallways, finding pool rooms, game rooms (he spent a bit of time in these of course), a nice looking hotel restaurant, and, finally, the secret balcony-floor.

Matt was disappointed. It was just a ballroom, filled with people in suits and long, swishing dresses, all dancing stiffly to classical music. There was, however, a small buffet, where Matt grabbed some cake before sneaking back out. His caper finished and his true intent almost forgotten, he returned to the room where he and Jessebell were staying.

The door swung open to reveal his wife, laying on the bed, a far out look on her face. She seemed to have been crying. Matt moved towards the bed, suddenly struck with concern.

"Where the hell have you been?" The woman screeched when Matt approached, holding the half eaten cake out as a peace offering. "...It's 11:00pm, Matt. You've been out for 4 hours!" She tucked her legs under the blanket and rolled away from Matt, who stood, all the euphoria he had felt while exploring draining out of him.

"Sorry." He whispered, placing the cake on the bedside table. "I was looking for video game cords." His voice was soft, apologetic.

"Video games! Of course! I'm starting to think you love your games more than you love me." Jessebell's voice was sad, low and tear filled.

Matt stopped. Was that true? Even he didn't know the answer.

"I'm sorry, Jesse," Matt started, using his nickname for her (inspired by Jesse from Pokémon), "I seem to have forgotten that tonight is supposed to be about us," He stressed the word. He had to lay on the sugar thick if he was going to make it out of this one! "Can I make it up to you?"

Matt only hoped he wouldn't regret this. Jessebell's eyes lit up happily as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to lay down on the bed with her. "Do you really mean it?"

"I mean every word of it," Matt said with a soft (forced, his mind mocked) smile. He placed a small kiss on her lips. "You have been practically begging for it all day," He laughed. Jessebell blushed deeply, suddenly retracting as Matt lunged in closer to her. "C'mon, Jesse, don't be like that,"

"Sorry... You know though, that.." She began to whisper, "I'm a virgin!"

"You're such a dunce. It doesn't matter if you're a virgin. We're married for a reason - I'll even tell you what to do if sex ed class wasn't enough for you. Okay? Now, do whatever your body wants you to do, you're married now - we're married now, so you're not sinning or whatever the fuck it is you're always worried about," Matt grinned.

"Fine," She muttered, and suddenly Matt was full-on making out with her, wriggling his tongue into her mouth. If Matt was going to fuck her, he had to work hard to get himself excited about this, especially with the way she was acting... But eh, it's her first time, he's got to make this 'magical' and shit, like all the girls expect it to be. Now some bondage, that he'd really be into...

Jessebell suddenly moaned, and then she clamped her hand over her mouth, pushing Matt away. "Jesus, what's wrong now?" Matt groaned.

"W-wasn't that embarrassing?" She choked out.

"When you love someone, you're not worried about how embarrassing something you do is, or how ugly you think your body is - because the person that loves you thinks that you are wholly one hundred percent gorgeous. Understand?" Matt asked. She nodded. "So when you orgasm and you're all going insane with pleasure, don't bottle it all up, you ninny."

Jessebell nodded slowly again, giving in to what Matt had said.

At the end of the night, Matt realized it was a piece of fucking work trying to get this whole sex thing to work. Hopefully there wouldn't be as many distractions as this time... And hopefully he could think of something other than Jessebell's fucking pathetic naked body laying there like a little angel in order to get himself hard. All these would have to wait for another time though, because Jessebell was already asleep, curling up in his arms, and he was well on his way, too...


	2. Call Boy

CaffinatedCaffy- Get ready for things to get moving and in action! Thanks for reading, peeps. Oh, and we own your minds while you're reading this. Be prepared to be brainwashed. :D

Axcent- I love you!

* * *

Call Boy

"Matt! Get off your damn video games and get ready for work! At this rate, you'll be late!" Jessebell shouted from the bedroom, hoping she could capture Matt's attention.

Matt sighed heavily. Having a full-time job sucked, there was no such thing as twenty-four hour gaming marathons anymore, or anything else remotely fun. Whenever he had a day off Jessebell demanded his attention seeing as she was 'pregnant' (the woman was barely even showing!) and she 'missed him', even though they live together. "Alright," Matt frowned and turned off the gaming system, walking into the bathroom.

It had been a few months since Matt and Jessebell settled into their two-bedroom home, where one bedroom was currently unoccupied (but waiting for a little bundle of joy, assuredly). Matt had found a job as a member of the Geek Squad, an affiliate of Best Buy, and with his Bachelor's degree from college it was paying quite well. He got discounts on things he bought at Best Buy, and he was considering actually working part-time as a customer assistant just for shits and giggles, because people who were hopeless with computers made him laugh.

When Matt arrived at work, he immediately clocked in and pulled on his fancy little black vest and ID. He walked over to the Geek Squad's main desk, asking if there was anyone who had an appointment today. "Hey, Matt! You've only got one appointment today, so take it easy. Here's the address," The desk worker handed Matt a slip of paper with the transaction printed out on it.

"What's their problem?" Matt asked.

"They have the blue screen of death, you'll probably have to wipe their computer,"

"Shit," Matt muttered, "I have my work cut out for me. I'll get going on this one. See you,"

"Bye," The worker called, and Matt left to go help out their poor customer.

Matt arrived at a nice, homey-looking condo and knocked on the door. A blonde opened up the door, looking angry. "Hi, I'm from the Geek Squad, my name's Matt! Pleased to be helping you," Matt smiled wide and stuck out his hand to shake.

The blonde took the hand hesitantly, shaking it. "Yeah, just fix my damn computer. It's this way," Matt was led inside the house, into the living room and at a desk where a PC was located. "Oh, by the way, I'm Mello,"

"Nice to meet you, Mello," Matt smiled, and turned on the PC. "So, tell me exactly what happened to your computer when it first got the blue screen,"

"Well, I was just going to shut down the computer, and then all these numbers showed up-"

"What numbers?" Matt asked, intrigued.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? It was like, zero's and one's."

"That was binary, dear," Matt laughed.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know that?" Mello growled.

"Have you tried printing anything lately?" Matt asked.

"No..." Mello said.

"Let's see..." Matt turned on the computer and opened up word, trying to print a plain paper. Out came a mess of what looked like computer spit up, typed out on the computer paper. "This is a message, written out in binary," Matt explained. "Do me a huge favor and run an anti-virus program while I decode this?" Matt asked.

"I'm not your lackey!" Mello said angrily.

"You're paying me by the hour," Matt said, unblinking with his goggles dangling from his neck.

Mello just huffed indignantly and ran the program, watching Matt decode the binary. He was separating groups of 8 numbers and then decoding them into characters. "Jesus, do all of you geeks know how to do this?" Mello asked, leaning on Matt for a better view.

"Nah, I'm just extra-special and decided to learn binary." Matt explained, smiling up at Mello.

Mello's cheeks burned slightly, turning a pink color. He immediately turned his face so it couldn't be seen until Matt turned around, back to the paper. "Apparently you've been hacked. I'll have to hold onto this and show it to the guys at work. For now, we'll need to check out your computer to see if the hacker left any traces." Matt explained.

"Are you going to take my computer?" Mello growled.

"Not at all. I just have to get into the deep depths of your HD and see if the hacker left any traces," Matt explained.

"...HD?" Mello asked, confused.

"Hard drive," Matt supplied.

"Right," Mello confirmed, trailing his hand across Matt's shoulders. 'Damn, he's cute. Is he single...?' "Do geeks ever get out and go on dates, and stuff?" Mello ventured, hoping this would get pushed in the right direction.

"Contrary to popular belief, a lot of geeks, nerds, whatever you want to call them, have girlfriends or significant others." Matt supplied.

"Are you one of them?" Mello asked, begging for a no.

"Actually, I just got married a couple weeks ago," Matt answered.

'Damn! Go for it anyway, you're hot!' Mello cheered himself on. "Is she attractive?" Mello asked.

"I would show you, but I don't have any photos of us on me," Matt answered, avoiding the initial question.

"What kind of husband doesn't keep a photo of his wife with him?" Mello laughed. "Take off your ring and someone would think you're completely single,"

Matt smiled and went back to work, while Mello stood behind him, placing his hands on Matt's shoulders, sliding them around in a somewhat sensual motion. 'Don't freak out, don't freak out...' Mello begged.

"Umm, what are you doing?" Matt asked, turning around.

"You don't like it?" Mello asked, pouting in a cute way.

"Oh, n-no, it's nice... It's just... I don't know," Matt stuttered, his face going bright red.

Matt finished his work, happily humming to himself as he tried to ignore the sexual tension that was quickly growing in the room (as well as the uncomfortable feeling that was slowly intensifying in his pants). "Well, I'm all done here! Here's our card, and this is my personal extension at work if you ever have any trouble again. I just need you to sign... Oh fuck, I left it in the car. I'll be right back," Matt muttered.

He returned with a clipboard, which Mello signed and put his signature where it was needed. Matt left the house with a smile, which Mello tentatively returned.

As Matt drove to work, and then home, he contemplated the job he had just done. 'What the Hell was that? I was getting mind-fucked - by a guy no less - he looked like a girl though, with that hair... and I... liked it... Jesus Christ, hopefully I'm just sex-starved. Yeah, that's it. Hopefully Jessebell will be in the mood, cus if not, me and my right hand are going to become great friends again tonight...'

"Welcome home, darling!" Jessebell called, hugging Matt tightly as he returned from work.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Matt asked, somewhat surprised as he pulled his goggles over his eyes.

"Those damn goggles again," Jessebell growled, turning away and pouting.

'Damn, talk about 'Miss Bipolar'... Like that song! 'I just want to go out tonight, I'm too tired to put up a fight. The best part of fighting is the make up sex...' Only she doesn't like make-up sex. Tried once... Not pretty.'

"What's wrong with my goggles?" Matt frowned.

"They hide your eyes, and mess up your hair," Jessebell said.

"I wear them for a reason," Matt growled, and stalked off.

'Why was I such an ass just now...?' But Matt just couldn't find a good answer.

* * *

The next morning dawned dry and cold, the sky grey and swirled with clouds, like dreary frosting. Matt woke up next to Jessebell, wrapped in blankets and sheets, his exposed shoulders chilled by the air. His wife lay sleeping calmly, her body curled, her face turned away from the redhead. With a sigh, Matt swung his legs out of bed and slapped a palm on the alarm clock on the bedside table, ignoring Jessebell's murmured complaint. Then he dug in his closet, and picked through all of Jesse's clothes, finding a pair of simple jeans and his favorite stripped shirt, one his wife didn't like him wearing. He remembered when he wore it almost everyday, when he spent his days sleeping and hacking and pwning n00bs.

Running a hand through his hair, Matt moved towards the bathroom, glancing at his disheveled reflection and smiling. He was not in the mood to fix that. Instead he pulled his Game Boy out of a drawer in the bedroom and went into the kitchen, where he sat playing until moments before he had to leave for work.

When he moved up to the Geek Squad desk, Matt was greeted by his coworker, Samuel. "You have another appointment today." Sam told Matt. "Asked specifically for you." The brunette shrugged.

Matt nodded, taking the slip of paper from the desk worker. His eyebrows rose when he read the address written across it. It was the same building he'd visited yesterday, the one with the... blue screen of death. His cheeks lit up as he nodded at Sam, trying to smile, and left.

Stepping back into the condo was awkward, to say the least. Mello was smiling subtly, a predatory gleam in his sharp blue eyes. He was wrapped in skin tight leather, instead of the casual jeans he was wearing yesterday. Matt swallowed. "So... er... what seems to be the problem?" He asked, looking over at the computer sitting on Mello's desk.

"I was trying to use it this morning, and the screen got fucked up." Mello waved a hand at the green and blue tinged screen, it's colours obviously off. He was still watching Matt, that small smile playing at his lips.

Matt stepped up to the PC, instantly seeing the problem. It was merely the resolution settings, an easy problem that could have been remedied over the phone. He right clicked the screen, went into programs and found the correct resolution. He was done in less than a minute. As he stood, bent over the desk, he felt Mello's breath on the back of his neck, the blonde's hand resting a centimeter away from Matt's own. Matt backed away from the desk quickly, finding the close quarters suffocating. Mello had a way of instantly making Matt feel warmer than was comfortable, of twisting his stomach in ways married men's innards shouldn't bend.

"You done?" Matt jumped as Mello's voice sounded right next to his ear.

"Yeah, yeah. It was just your resolution, it... er... I don't know what you did..." His cheeks burned when he turned around and bumped his nose on Mello's chin. He was so close.

"I didn't do anything." Mello raised his thin eyebrows, running his hand along Matt's forearm and sounding offended.

"It's pretty hard to mess up your resolution by accident." Matt backed into the desk, his body reacting in ways he did not want. He didn't try to push Mello away as he stretched a hand along the redhead's back.

"I assure you, it was unintentional." Mello purred, pulling Matt flush against him.

Matt nodded, a lump in his throat blocking any words he might have wanted to utter. He was stuck; literally and figuratively. When Mello leaned in and closed the gap between their lips, he didn't resist. Jessebell had never made him feel anything like this, and here was some stranger running his hands along Matt's back and the redhead was letting him. The kiss ended as soon as Mello pulled away to breathe, releasing Matt and watching with a satisfied smirk as the other man leaned against the desk, breathing uneven and his expression one of shock.

The blonde then left for the kitchen, leaving a flustered and furiously blushing Matt to gather as much of his composure as he could. Then, in an unusually high voice, Matt called into the next room. "What was that?" He brushed off his Geek Squad vest, all thoughts of Jessebell pushed out of his mind. Mello sure did look good in leather. And the blonde knew how to kiss.

Mello came back out, clutching a chocolate bar in his long fingers. "Whatever you want it to be." He responded, reaching out to touch one of Matt's scarlet brushed cheeks and snapping off a piece of chocolate.

Matt lifted his own hand and gently removed Mello's fingers, confusion playing games with his head. "I'm married." He told the other, his voice self assured.

Mello stepped closer and wrapped his fingers into Matt's, another one of those smiles pulling at the corners of his lips.

The redhead looked down at their entwined digits and repeated himself. "I'm married." His voice broke near the end as Mello placed a chaste kiss on Matt's exposed collar bone. "I'm married." This time the statement was softer, the conviction draining with each syllable. "I'm married." Matt whispered, his voice draining away as Mello nipped his neck, and he tilted his head to give the blonde more access. He ran the fingers on his free hand through the other's hair, giving in as Mello pulled him closer and the other man's lips sought his own again.

Suddenly, Matt and Mello both jumped as a loud ringing filled the room, it's source the cell phone in Matt's pocket. He reached for it, blushing furiously as Mello rested his hands on the redhead's slender hips and listened in."Hello?" Matt's blush deepened as he realized how out of breath he sounded.

"Are you done yet? You have another appointment. I can push it back if you need more time." It was Sam.

"Er... no, no, that's fine. Thanks Sam. Yeah. Bye." Matt looked up at Mello, his eyes wide."I have to go now." He squeaked.

Mello couldn't help thinking he looked abso-fucking-lutely adorable. He also felt a certain amount of pride at scoring a married 'straight' guy. "I understand."

Matt nodded quickly and rushed out of the condo, shaking his head. He got so caught up in the moment, he'd cheated on Jessebell; and with a guy, no less! But Matt couldn't suppress the thought that it had been the best... make out... session he'd ever had.

When he arrived back at the store, Sam gave him the address to his next appointment with a strange expression on his face. Matt took the slip of paper and hurried off, racing everywhere and doing all of his work quickly in an attempt to shake off the feeling of Mello's lips on his skin. When he opened the door to his flashy red Camaro and slid into the driver's seat, he almost choked. In the rear view mirror, clear as day, he could see a small bruise on the side of his neck. A hickey.

Immediately, Matt began to panic. He pulled out his phone and quickly went on the internet, searching 'how to hide a hickey'. He needed ice! Matt sped down to the local CVS, determined to get some concealer and... a toothbrush and a cold compress, apparently. He sighed and parked in the parking lot, locking the car out of habit. He shrugged out of his work vest as he walked, holding it in his arms. Matt went into the health care and hygiene aisle, and grabbed a soft bristle toothbrush, as the article had demanded, and a cold compress. He walked over to the makeup aisle, trying to find green tinted (apparently it's designed to negate red skin tones) concealer in his skin tone.

He grabbed one of the lightest ones there, and got rang up at the front. The cashier gave him a knowing look, to which Matt responded with a glare. He rushed back out to the car, ready to follow the article's directions. Okay, brush the toothbrush on the hickey for a few seconds in a circular motion... check. Then, immediately - ohfuckgetitonthere! - apply the cold compress to the hickey for ten minutes. Matt sighed, angling his neck so it was captured between his head and shoulder, going into the glove box for his emergency gameboy. He sat there, playing, until the ten minutes were up.

Then he removed the cold compress - wow, it did look kind of smaller and less red... but it was still big and glaring. He took the concealer and rubbed it on the hickey and the surrounding area, trying to make it look natural. Matt swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing, and went to throw away the toothbrush and cold compress. He held onto the concealer, stuffing it in his pocket carefully.

He drove the Camaro home, terribly nervous about what Jessebell might notice - who was he kidding? She was an idiot compared to him. Her IQ was average - barely. She was one of those prep girls in high school, apparently. Matt was the quiet boy who toyed with his laptop before class. He pulled into their small garage, caressing his car slightly as he left the vehicle. When he got in the house he was assaulted by a barrage of kisses. Matt pushed Jessebell off of him, disgusted by the feel of her lips all over his cheeks - he had to be careful about his... his... Matt couldn't bare to even think the word in her presence. But he had to keep her away from his neck.

"Jessebell, I'm not feeling too well," Matt fibbed, jutting a lower lip out.

"Aww, my poor baby, do you want soup for dinner?" Jessebell cooed, pressing a hand to Matt's forehead. He slapped it away somewhat angrily, retreating to the bedroom.

"I'm going to take a nap, I'm sorry for being so moody, but I really don't feel good," Matt lied, retreating to their bedroom. Jessebell, dejected, went to the kitchen to start dinner.

Matt flopped on the bed, wriggling under the covers. "What the fuck is wrong with me...?" He wondered aloud, muttering quietly to himself. 'It was just a mistake - a horribly delicious mistake, that will not happen again. Case closed. And what the hell was up with that, messing up his resolution like that? Was it on purpose...? But what would that serve as? An opportunity to prey on me?' Matt scoffed at the idea. 'Either way, I need to hide this fucking... ugh. Fuck you, Mello...' Matt cursed, blushing at the implications of his thoughts.

He wrapped himself up in the sheets, kicking off the comforter, and attempted to get relaxed. As long as he went to the bathroom before dinner, it was okay. It turned out no worry was necessary, because dinner went smoothly, and Jessebell didn't notice a thing. They went to bed together, and Matt used his 'illness' as an opportunity to lie as far away from Jessebell as possible.

However, breakfast wasn't nearly as smooth. "Matt, what is that on your throat?" Jessebell asked, getting closer to inspect his neck.

Matt froze. Fuck fuck fuck! She noticed! 'Calm down, and don't you dare say you got hit by a mother fucking doorknob... Be more clever!' Matt took a discreet deep breath, calming himself enough to explain. "Oh, we were renovating in the back at work, and Sam hit me with a pole! Can you believe it?" Matt said, laughing slightly awkwardly.

"Wow, my poor dear, sick and injured! You simply must stay home from work today," Jessebell insisted.

"No, I have to go in to work, babe, don't be ridiculous. I love you, I've got to get going now," Matt said, waving to Jessebell as he left the house.

He released a large breath he was holding. Safe, he's safe... For now.


	3. Come Play With Me

CaffinatedCaffy- Oh, you know you wish you were the one playing with Matty ;)

Axcent- Gosh, you read my mind, Caffy ^^

Come Play With Me

"No, sir, you can't... Yes, I'm serious. What reason would I have to lie to you? No, there would be no advantage to that. Okay. Sorry about that." Sam hung up the phone, raising his eyebrows at Matt as the redhead tapped away at computer that was in for servicing.

"What was that about?" Matt asked the other man, indicating the phone with a tilt of his head.

"Someone asking if they could recover a MS word file after closing the page." Sam turned to his own computer, arranging appointments. "Oh, Matt, you've got another one."

Matt blinked, his cheeks turning red. He had no doubt that it would be Mello again with some fake computer problem. He straightened, shuffling his feet awkwardly, and accepted the address Sam handed him, debating internally whether or not to go. He had to do a double take when he looked at the words on the paper. It was a different address. The redhead breathed a sigh of relief, glad he wouldn't have to make that choice quite yet.

Then, glad to be dealing with some real hard drive issues instead of the romantic one's in his life, Matt headed off to his car, lighting up on the way.

The drive was uneventful, as he didn't take any wrong turns, thanks to the map in his glove box. As he cruised down the street the house was meant to be on, Matt noticed he was in a commercial area, one where all the buildings were shops and restaurants. He wondered if the place he was headed to was a company, Sam hadn't said. The house numbers escalated as he went, until he stopped in front of a quaint cafe with the correct address painted in lime green across the front door. Parking next to the building on the curb, Matt checked the address again to make sure. He didn't know why a cafe would need computer help, but he climbed out of the car upon seeing the spot was, in fact; correct, snubbing his cigarette under his shoe as he moved toward the door.

The door opened with a faint jingle, announcing his arrival. Matt scanned the place, and his eyes rested on the one sight he had least expected. Mello, sitting at the far end of the cafe, staring right at him. The blonde man had his head propped in his hands, elbows resting on the table. Matt halted at the door, blinking rapidly, wondering if this was for real.

Mello did the thinking for him, as he stood on the threshold, looking shocked. The other man stood and moved towards Matt, heavy boots clicking methodically on the tile floor. "You're such a hard worker." His face was so close, Matt couldn't make his legs move. "I thought you deserved a bit of a break." Mello reached up his palm, running his thumb over the redhead's cheek. This time, Matt didn't try to bat it away. He followed Mello to the same table, nervousness settling in his stomach at the lack of other people in the building. There was only the man at the counter, one that faced well away from the seats Mello had chosen. He had picked them strategically.

"What brings you here, Matt?" Mello asked, smirking at the other man and brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

Matt blinked. "I got a call from work. Didn't you send that?" Matt found it hard to believe it was just a coincidence that Mello was in a cafe were he had actual work to do...

"Of course I did." Mello purred, leaning further over the table.

Matt nodded, swallowing. Mello enthralled him, the way his eyes were so direct, his movements so purposful. He did things to Matt's emotions no one had ever done to them before, made Matt's mind wander to places he was sure it wasn't supposed to be. He wanted to stay here, with Mello's eyes tracing him hungrily, and he wanted to bolt for the door. He chose to ignore any thoughts of Jessebell, forget her completely.

So, when Mello suggested they go outside, he followed without guilt. When the other man pushed him against the brick wall of the cafe, he looped his arms around the blonde's neck, threading his fingers through the strands of Mello's hair, and let Mello run his hands down his sides. He let Mello's tongue dance with his.

When they finally broke away, Matt gasped for air and shook his head, his face burning. He watched Mello's face stretch into a smirk, and muttered something about having to go back to work, his own words lost. Mello nodded, realeasing Matt, his expression one of satisfaction, and walked back down the street and out of sight.

Matt breathed slowly in and out, as if that would make what just happened all the less real. He got into his Camaro, touching his lips lightly, just like Mello's had not five minutes ago. Was he screwing around with him? Jessebell... Oh God, this could be (it _is,_ his mind reprimanded him) cheating! He's cheating on his wife, his wife who is pregnant with his child and loves him very much... But did he love her? Matt shook his head. Of course he loves Jessebell! He just... wants to have a little fun. And obviously, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

So, when Matt finished work that day (it was slow, quite boring in all honesty), he headed home to find a sticky note on the kitchen table from Jessebell. _Matt, i went to the grocery store! i'll be there for a while, so don't wait for me or anything. i love you, Jessebell. _ Jessebell's letters were written in a loopy, somehow perfect-looking handwriting. All of her 'i's were purposely lowercase, and they were dotted with little hearts. Matt groaned at the childishness of the note, crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash.

Suddenly, he got an idea. He could just hack into Mello's computer and screw it up himself. Then he'd _have_ to see Mello again, and he could make sure he was doing what he wanted when it came to this _cheating_ buisness... 'Cus it was damn fun, really. He sat down at his personal computer, opening up his two self-made hacking programs. One he used to get Mello's IP address, and the other he used to gain access to his system.

In order to gain access to Mello's PC, he needed to get through his firewalls - which honestly were no problem to get through. If you wanted to be protected from Matt, you better have made your own damn firewall, and you better have been _damn good_ at it. Matt then entered the PC, gaining a view of his home screen with the program he had designed. He controlled Mello's mouse, noticing that he was on the computer at the moment.

The mouse tried to move against him, but Matt sent a virus so he could override it. He opened up a notepad, and teasingly wrote, "Hey there, ;)" and didn't let him respond, instead choosing to close the program. He went through folders, taking stuff out of them, misplacing them, and deleting some useless files. He topped it all off with a trojan virus, and contained it in a junk folder. However, Mello couldn't get rid of it himself, and thus would need to call up the Geek Squad -

"Matt, I'm home!" Jessebell called, entering the house with grocery bags in hand. "Could you help me with the groceries?"

"Sure," Matt said, and closed what he was doing on the computer to go put away the groceries.

Matt couldn't wait for the next day at work, he simply _itched_ at the idea of Mello needing his assistance once more. So naturally, his fingers twitched as he pulled into the parking lot for work the next day. He pulled his vest on, checked on his now-fading hickey, and walked up to the front desk, confident and self-assured. Sam smiled at him as he stopped at the desk. "Hey, Matt. You have one appointment today, so take your time. Today's a pretty slow day, usually, so just head home after. We'll call you if we really need you," Sam said.

Matt nodded, not daring to look at the address yet. "Got it," He left Best Buy and entered his car. Only then did he take a look at the address - Mello's address.

Matt arrived at Mello's house not too much later, and knocked on the door somewhat nervously. What if he didn't want to see Matt? What if he was angry? What if-

"You. Inside." Mello growled as he opened the door, a snarl evident on his pretty face.

Mello was wearing even less clothes than usual today, and he practically shoved Matt into his computer chair. Matt could barely suppress a laugh as he asked what was wrong with the computer. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Well, a smug little fuck who has really fucking _bright red_ hair decided to hack into my fucking computer yesterday," Mello said stiffly, gripping Matt's shoulders roughly.

"Ah, so you figured it out," Matt smiled and removed the trojan virus and fixed Mello's folders.

"No _shit_ I figured it out," Mello roared.

"Well, you were supposed to find out, it wouldn't have been fun otherwise." Matt insisted.

"Oh? So why is it you fucked up my computer? You just wanted to piss me off, eh?" Mello challenged.

"Yeah, 'cause you're so fucking _sexy_ when you're angry," Matt purred, surprising even himself with the amount of sexual energy he was putting forth.

Mello pulled Matt up out of the chair by his shirt, bringing him within a hair's distance of himself. "Do you talk like this to your wife?"

"Only to you," Matt insisted, and then their lips met. It was an angry clash of teeth at first, but it quickly softened, and became more passionate.

"Do you want this?" Mello asked, pulling away from Matt for a moment.

"You mean, do I want to cheat on my wife with the sexiest man who walks the planet?" Matt asked, laughing slightly.

"Aww, you flatter me. But yes, exactly that." Mello smirked.

"Fuck yeah," Matt said, pressing their bodies together as he captured Mello's lips in a kiss.

Their kiss deepened quickly, escalating to a point where they were fumbling around on Mello's couch, touching, feeling, and exploring one another's bodies. Vaguely, Matt could find himself wondering what Jessebell would think of him if she found out he was doing this. Mello immediately noticed Matt's hesitation and paused what they were doing. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Matt nodded breathlessly. There was a certain rush he received from fooling around with Mello. It was... exhilarating. So much more exciting than doing anything with Jessebell. So Matt pressed his lips back to Mello's, entwining themselves together once more.

_Ring!_ Matt's cell phone shrilly ringing brought Matt and Mello apart as Matt looked at the Caller ID with worry. It was Jessebell. "Shit, what do I say? She knows I'm already off of work," Matt cried.

"Don't worry, um, tell her you're at a friend's house!" Mello improvised.

Matt nodded, and flipped open the phone. "Hey, babe," Matt said, trying to seem blasé as he steadied his irregular breathing.

"Hi sweetheart! When are you coming home?" Jessebell asked, whining slightly. "It's nearly dinner time, you know."

Had time really gone by that quickly? "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm at a friend's house right now. I hadn't noticed the time go by so quickly." Matt explained.

"Oh, you made friends! This is so wonderful! Is he from work?" Jessebell squealed, automatically assuming it was a male friend.

"No, actually, I met him at the café a few days back. His name's Mello," Matt ventured.

"That's so sweet! Well, you'll simply _have_ to bring him over for dinner tonight!" Jessebell said. It was impossible to not realize she was smiling ear-to-ear - even through the phone.

Mello shook his head side to side, frantically. "Jesse, I don't think that's such a good idea," Matt said, hoping Jessebell's pet name would calm her down.

"No, I _insist_. I'll see you two in a little bit! I love you, bye!" She called.

"Bye," Matt said with a frown, and hung up. "Well, get yourself ready, it seems we're having dinner with my wife..." Matt grimaced, fingering his wedding ring nervously.

Mello frowned. "This sure will be interesting," He muttered, pulling Matt in for one final kiss before they left in Matt's car, straightening their hair and clothes out.


	4. I Can Be Sexual Too!

CaffinatedCaffy - So I totally updated on time! (I like the idea of updating about once a week) The phone number has 8 digits for a reason, look at your phone's keypads and try to make words out of the numbers given ;) They personify Mello quite well. The chapter name's from a funny song I like by the way, it's called _Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too!_ by **Say Anything**. :P It probably has nothing to do with this chapter, aside from the title. Poor Matty. *hearts*

Axcent - Is currently on vacation! (Some kind of road trip or something, I think? DX) I'll be here updating on time while she's gone. She's missed! T_T

* * *

I Can Be Sexual, Too!

When Matt pulled his car into the driveway of the house where he lived with Jessebell, Mello was smirking at him in a way he did not like at all. There was a knowing glimmer beneath the playfulness, but also a malice that Matt recognized as part of Mello's general personality. It unnerved him enough to push him into throwing a warning at the blonde. "Don't you dare do anything." He meant to sound confident, but his voice came out like a plea.

"Matty's nervous." Mello chuckled, opening his door as Matt turned off the ignition. "Guilty conscience?"

Matt blushed and shook his head as Mello moved closer to him, cupping the redhead's chin in his hand. "Not here!" he hissed, pulling away as Mello pecked him, mere feet from the door. "She might see!" Matt's voice was a hoarse whisper, and he scowled when Mello laughed. "And don't mock me!"

Jessebell burst through the door then, grinning broadly. "So you're Matt's friend! Nice to meet you!" Her light blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, her face painted in shades of periwinkle blue eye shadow. She offered Mello a hand, blinking at the skimpy leather he was wearing.

Mello nodded, taking her hand and smiling in a way that seemed genuine, if you didn't notice the triumph in his eyes. He had stolen Matt from this bubbly, pretty woman. "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Jeevas." Mello's smirk seemed angled at Matt, who was shifting nervously as he watched the exchange. He knew Mello was toying with him, the bastard.

"Oh please, call me Jessebell!" She insisted, grinning and swatting a hand playfully.

"Why don't we just go inside." Matt suggested, bouncing on the balls of his feet and pulling at the strap of his goggles.

Both Jessebell and Mello nodded, one flouncing off into the house, the other touching the redhead's arm for a split second and whispering "Calm down," in his ear.

Inside, past the small foyer, the table was laden with food. Matt wondered how Jessebell had managed all that in the short time since she had invited Mello for dinner. Most likely, she had prepared the food in advance for both of them. He sat in his usual chair, glancing at Mello as the blonde sat in the seat next to him, leaving Jessbell to sit across from them, looking disappointed that Mello had stolen her place next to her husband.

"Well! Serve yourselves. It's not much but... I do what I can!" Jessebell gushed, placing a palm on her cheek and closing her eyes.

Mello smiled, the glint still in his eyes, the one that made Matt's hands shake as he ladled soup into his bowl and ripped a piece of French bread in half - the one that made him kick Mello under the table as the blonde took the other half of that bread and popped it into his own mouth.

Jessebell giggled, heaping mashed potatoes onto her own plate and starting conversation. "Mello, how is it that you met Matt? He said something about a cafe..." Her face was tilted to the side, she was watching Matt. Her expression said this was more than just a simple question about acquaintances, but an inquiry as to what her Matt was doing in a cafe without her knowledge.

"I was called to a house in the area to...er, help with their computer and I stopped for a coffee." Matt pipped up, nudging Mello in what he hoped was a discreet way as he plunged his spoon a little over dramatically into his soup.

"Matt, dear, I asked Mello! Let your friend talk!" Jessebell laughed, sprinkling pepper over her potatoes, completely oblivious to her husband's tension.

Mello nodded. "Yeah, Matt, let me talk." His tone was low and a blush spread over Matt's face.

Jessebell put some vegetables on her plate and took a bite, motioning for Mello to go on.

"Well..." The blonde's eyes were trained on Matt as the other dribbled soup down his chin in nervousness."I was eating a brownie when Matt rudely bumped into me, and I dropped it. He paid for it, and then we got to talking. Since it was so hot inside, we went out to continue our conversation." Matt's face was becoming steadily redder as Mello's speech went on, remembering exactly what happened outside of the cafe that day.

Jessebell laughed, placing her hand on top of Matt's and pretending she wasn't offended when he pulled it away on the pretext of grabbing another piece of bread. "So, Mello," she started again, settling back in her seat and picking up her fork in favor of her spoon. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Mello's eyes narrowed as his lips tilted up, his expression devious. "Something like that."

Matt dropped his fork, his head jerking up to look at Mello. Was he referring to him? Something like a girlfriend? Or was there someone else? Was Mello doing the same thing he was, playing around behind some girl's back? Somehow Matt felt like if Mello were doing it, it was much worse. He wanted to think he was the only one. ... Is that selfish?

"Something like that?" Jessebell giggled again. Matt was starting to get annoyed.

"I'm bisexual." Mello told her, lifting his fork. "I have a boyfriend right now." Matt choked and kicked the blonde under the table. He was supposed to be playing it cool!

Jessebell blinked several times. "Oh! Well... What do you do for work?" She changed the subject.

"I'm a teacher." Mello told her, practically growling.

"That must be fun!" Jessebell offered, her voice cheery.

Mello snorted. "If you consider dealing with twenty little smart-asses all day fun. Fucking kids." There was a certain taunting tenderness to his voice, crouched behind the annoyance. Matt could tell he really harbored well hidden love for the profession, and probably really liked the kids in his classes.

Jessebell took him seriously, her mouth dropping open at the statement. Then she smacked Mello's forearm playfully, giggling again. "You can't say that about children, Mello! I won't let you talk like that once this baby's born!" At the sight of Mello's surprised look, she continued, "Oh! Didn't you know? Matt is going to a father in a few months!"

"What?" Mello swallowed his potato quickly, "I mean.. er, congratulations."

Matt looked down, sensing Mello's eyes on him. Was Mello mad? Did this change something? Should he have told Mello from the beginning, so Mello wouldn't feel like Matt was lying? Or did Mello not want to be with someone who was married with children?

"I have to go to the bathroom." Matt mumbled, pushing his plate away and getting up.

With Matt gone, Jessebell looked towards Mello from across the table with a glint in her eye that Mello was far too accustomed to. "So, Mello," Jessebell purred, leaning on her elbow, which was propped up on the table. She moved forward, exposing her cleavage.

"Jessebell, don't play that game," Mello warned.

"What game?" She asked, leaning forward even further.

"Your head is going to end up in your own fucking bowl of mashed potatoes if you're not careful, woman. You're pregnant for Christ's sake, can't you sit back and enjoy your husband?" _'While it lasts, because I'm sure as Hell going to take him away from you, you bitch,'_ Mello finished the sentence in his thoughts, stabbing his green beans with a fork and shoving them into his mouth.

Matt came back from the bathroom then, the tips of his messy red bangs were wet. He must have splashed water on his face. Jessebell looked somewhat alarmed, but quickly sat up straight and smiled at Matt. "Well, are we all done eating here?"

Mello nodded, as did Matt. "Alright, I'll clear up, you two stay here." Mello and Matt nodded again as Jessebell began to clear away the dishes.

"Why did you tell her you're bisexual?" Matt hissed, whispering to Mello.

"I figured it would deter her from thinking anything about you, as well as saying I had a boyfriend," Mello answered with a sly wink, putting his hand on Matt's thigh.

Matt answered to Mello's advance with a small squeak, laughing slightly. "Am I the alleged boyfriend?" He asked, trying to seem casual.

"Would you be jealous if you weren't?" Mello asked with a smirk, moving his hand up Matt's thigh an inch.

Jessebell returned to the dining room for a moment, grabbing more dishes to clean. As soon as she entered, the hand dropped, and then quickly returned to it's place when she left. "Yeah," Matt admitted.

"That's terribly hypocritical of you, you know." Mello said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, but-" Matt stopped, putting a hand over his mouth. Was he really about to say that?

"What?" Mello prompted.

"Alright, all done. Would you like some coffee, Mello?" Jessebell offered.

"No thanks, I don't like coffee." Mello stood, and Matt realized that it was finally time to leave.

"Matt, are you going to drive Mello home?" Jessebell asked.

"Yeah," Matt said.

"Would you like me to come?" She asked, smiling.

"No thanks, that's alright. We'll be quick. I'm just in that condo block on 40th." Mello said, waving her down. His eyes read something along the lines of 'Don't fuck with me'.

Matt and Mello got into Matt's car together, and drove off to Mello's house, enjoying comfortable silence and small talk, save for the occasional snap of Mello's chocolate bar.

Matt pulled his car up to a familiar curb and pushed down the parking brake, turning to Mello, who was making no move to leave the car. The condo building was caught in the glare from a steadily setting sun, it's last rays catching deep green grass and tinging the area in light orange that had nothing to do with Matt's goggles. "Night Mello." The redhead smiled, drumming his fingertips over the top of the steering wheel anxiously as Mello turned his blue eyes over to rest on Matt, a sly smirk decorating his features, hair falling forward as he tilted his face towards the other's, making a blush bloom over Matt's cheeks.

"Night Matty." Mello purred, taking Matt's chin between his fingers and leaning over in his seat, unclasping his seat belt and pushing the redhead against the window, their lips locking. Matt let his eyes slip shut, raising his hands to loop them around Mello's neck, and the blonde lifted the hem of his shirt. Just as suddenly as Mello had lunged at him, the blonde pulled away, unlocking the door and swinging it open. "Night." He said again, winking.

"W-wait!" Matt called, straightening, his eyes wide, trying to even out his breaths.

"What, Matty?" Mello swung out of the car, then turned around, leaning against the open door and watching Matt chew his lip awkwardly.

"Can, I, er, call you, or something?" The redhead asked clamping his hand over the steering wheel again and swallowing.

Mello hummed, looking out towards the horizon, as though contemplating Matt's request. "You could." He raised both slim eyebrows, leaning back towards Matt and reaching out a gloved finger to run over the redhead's cheek. "3266-7399."

Matt nodded, blushing profusely and subconsciously leaning into Mello's touch. He sat in his car for minutes after Mello disappeared inside the condo, running over the numbers in his head and blinking, a small smile on his lips.

* * *

Matt drove home quickly, swerving on the tight turns that came with the many streets of suburbia. He pulled to a stop in front of his home, cut the engine and entered his home. "I'm back," Matt called out, and found Jessebell sitting on the couch in the living room, curled up with a romance novel.

"Hi, sweetheart." She said, smiling as she put down her book. She stood, and walked over to give me a hug. She was wearing one of her more skimpy, see-through nightgowns - with no bra.

"What's the occasion, Jesse?" Matt found himself commenting on her attire.

"Don't you like it?" She frowned.

"Well, it's very nice..." Matt coughed and changed the subject quickly. "So, what did you think of Mello?"

"He's... very interesting," Jessebell said, averting Matt's eyes.

"Look me in the eye, Jesse," Matt laughed. "Mello's a little eccentric, yeah, but don't tell me you've got something against bisexuals?"

"N-no, of course not!" Jessebell said, shaking her head in protest.

"Then what's the issue?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow. Jessebell began to turn red, so Matt pushed her away and placed a hand on his hip with a sigh. "Jessebell, look. Mello told me in the car that you tried to... seduce him." Matt had to stifle a laugh from saying that. "I'm very disappointed in you. You're married, to me! Not to mention that we have a child on the way. I expected more of you."

"Yeah, well you went to that cafe without telling me! I bet you've been other places, too!" Jessebell accused angrily.

"I was at a fucking cafe! For work! I can't believe you," Matt growled.

"Well, what about that 'pole accident'! It certainly didn't look like a pole hit you, Matt! It looked like a hickey!" Jessebell shouted.

Matt was flabbergasted. She was right... Who was he to accuse her when he had his own dirty little secret? "So now you think I'm cheating? Fuck you, Jessebell. I'm going for a smoke." Matt snapped, and stormed off into the bedroom to put on his sneakers and favorite fuzzy vest.

"Don't walk away from me like that, Mail!" Jessebell shouted.

"Oh, you think using my first name is going to intimidate me?" Matt scoffed, discreetly slipping his house keys into his pocket in case Jessebell tried to lock him out of the house.

Jessebell clenched her jaw and balled her fists, staring Matt down as he grabbed a pack of cigarettes and his lighter. When she wasn't looking, he slipped his gameboy in his pocket in case he wanted it, and brushed past her. Jessebell made a sound of clear disgust, and watched him exit the house, slamming the door behind him.

Once safely on the porch, under the soft beam of light from the flickering bulb attached to the overhang, Matt let his head fall into his hands, looping his fingers around the thick strands of his hair and sighing. Without a sputter the light went out, leaving him alone in the darkness, only a crescent moon a few scattered stars for company. He knew turning off the light was Jessebell's way of punishing him.

With another sigh he reached for his pack of cigarettes and flicked on his lighter, watching the tiny flame dance and feeling the slight warmth on his face. It cast shadows, threw his facial features into sharper definition. Then the lighter fluttered out, after being touched to the end of one of Matt's cigarettes. The redhead sucked in a breath, pulling in as much smoke as he could without overdoing it and coughing.

He felt a little better, just having his addiction. As smoke curled out into the night air, Matt tried and failed to block out his thoughts. If Jessebell really had tried to seduce Mello, and he didn't think the blonde was lying, that didn't make her any worse than him. In fact, what he was doing was much worse, morally. Still, he couldn't help feeling it was different. Different how he didn't know, but he had an urge to call Mello. So he dug in his vest pocket, extracting a compact cell phone, shining like a black beetle in the gentle moonlight.

Slowly Matt dialed Mello's number, his eyes lidded. He didn't want to search his mind for the answer as to why he was going to Mello for comfort after Jessebell had rightfully chewed him out.

"Hello?"

Matt smiled subtly, pressing the phone to his ear. Mello sounded remotely annoyed.

"It's Matt." He whispered, kicking his converse through the dust at the bottom of the stairs, where he lowered himself and sat, knees jutting out awkwardly.

The other end of the line was silent for only a moment, before Mello's voice drifted back through, the annoyance melted away. "What is it Matt?"

Matt shook his head, glowering at the wind that twined it's ice fingers through his hair and brushed along his face, creating ominous whispers in the trees lining the street. "I just... I confronted Jessebell about flirting with you. I... I don't know, I was mad! And then she accused me of running off and cheating on her..." Matt let his voice trail, crinkling his nose as it tickled with oncoming tears.

"Well, that's what you're doing." Mello's answer was blunt, but his voice stayed soft.

A lone tear trickled down Matt's cheek, and he gripped the phone tighter. "I... I know. It's just that it feels different with you. I don't know why, but it just is!" His voice rose and he blushed, turning away from the street and hoping no one had kept their windows open.

"You're both screwed up."

Matt's spine straightened, and another tear escaped his ducts and ran down his face. "And you're not messed at all..." He whined. He just had to be the bad guy.

"No, I'm just as screwed up for letting you do this. You wouldn't have cheated if it hadn't been for me, Matt. I wanted you and I didn't care if you had a wife. If I was normal, I'd make you go back to Jessebell, I'd cut this off. But I'm selfish. I still want you. We're both messed up, so we're in this together."

Matt sniffed, leaning onto his knees and humming. He didn't feel much better, after Mello's little rant. Though it was nice to know Mello was his partner in crime. "We're in this together..." He repeated. He liked the sound of that statement. If only it was standing alone.

Then he heard a small click as the door behind him was unlocked, his cue to come back inside. "Bye, Mello." Matt muttered into the phone, brushing away his tears with a sleeve and closing the phone without waiting for Mello's answer. He could already tell the blonde was uninterested in his predicament, and he took the steps by twos after snubbing his cigarette, slipping through the door and out of the darkness.

When he reached the hall, Jessebell was out of sight. She obviously hadn't forgiven him yet, and he walked into the living room with his head hanging, shuffling towards the stairs. As he walked, he flicked off the hall light and moved towards the lamp in the living room. Just before his fingers reached the switch, he noticed a faded red pillow with a picture of Mario on it's front laying on the couch, accompanied by a thin light green blanket. His pillow. Matt sighed, turning off the light and blinking as he felt his way towards the couch. He knew what that meant; and it as no use going upstairs to argue his case. Jessebell would just pretend to be sleeping, anyway, and ultimately make sure he wound up sleeping on the couch.

After spreading the blanket over his denim covered legs, Matt curled in on himself, nose still itching. He wondered if Mello really cared for him, even a little, or if the blonde just kept him around for the sexual thrill. With that thought slinking through his mind and tears at the edges of his eyes, Matt burried his head into his pillow, willing himself to sleep.


	5. Roadside

CaffinatedCaffy - lol, Matt makes me laugh. I apologize in advance for the cliffhanger ^^;

Axcent - Is back! hehehehe. The cliffhanger is my fault. Shoot me, not Caffy :3 She wrote the whole chapter, mostly :( I feel bad for leaving now... I love you!

Roadside

Matt ended up not sleeping that night; Jessebell left him on the couch. Instead, he stayed up, playing hacked versions of Legend of Zelda until he thought he would pass out. At some time around 6 AM, he ended up out cold, on the living room couch, snoring on the small pillow Jessebell had left him.

When Jessebell awoke, she walked into the living room to find Matt asleep on the couch, the game controller to what he had been playing laid haphazardly on the floor. On the screen, it displayed a continue screen. Matt had died - had he passed out gaming? Jessebell shook her head. She shouldn't be worried about him, Matt was awful to her last night. So, she ignored the sleeping form, and set about her daily routine.

When Matt woke up, it was lunch time. His stomach was rumbling, and vivid memories floated through his mind. He looked at the television screen, displaying a continue screen. He had fallen asleep while gaming. That hadn't happened before, he realized with alarm. He turned off the alternately-colored Zelda game, and then the television. He encountered Jessebell in the hallway, and didn't say anything to her. He got in the shower, got dressed, and towel-dried his hair before getting dressed - his way.

Matt put on his favorite boots, and his signature striped shirt and fuzzy vest, along with those jeans Jessebell hated. She was always trying to change him. He sighed, lighting up a cigarette while still in the house. That always drove her mad. He stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room, and then into the foyer. He blew out a puff of smoke as he waited for a reaction from Jessebell.

"Matt? Where are you going?" She called from in the kitchen. Right on cue.

"I'm going out to get some lunch. I'll be back later." With that, Matt shut the door behind him, and climbed into his Camaro, speeding off.

Matt wasn't quite sure yet where he was going for lunch. He just knew he was hungry. And honestly... kind of lonely. He wanted to eat lunch with Mello, but he had bothered him enough lately. And who knew if Mello even wanted to be bothered with him? But, it was worth a shot. So with trembling fingers, Matt dialed Mello's phone number.

"Matt, this better be important, I'm in the middle of a lesson! _"Who are you kidding, Mello? The lesson's almost over!_"

Shit! Mello was in a lesson! Were those his students in the background? "Oh my God, I'm sorry! I forgot about the whole 'school week' thing," Matt frowned. "Is that your students in the background?"

Mello growled. "Yes, it is. What did you want? "_Put him on speaker, Mello! If you're going to talk on the phone, at least let us hear! Yeah_!" Matt could hear a click, and then suddenly all of the student's voices were much louder.

"Your students call you Mello, eh?" Matt laughed. "I just wanted to know if you could come eat lunch with me, but never mind..."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I'll come, lunch is in five minutes. Where did you have in mind? _"Ooh, Mello, you've got a date!" _Matt could _hear _Mello's anger grow. "Shut the Hell up, before I give you extra homework!"

"Hm... Subway?" Matt suggested.

"Alright. I know where you're talking about. Can you come get me at the local high school? Classes will be out in about five minutes-" _"Hey Mello, you -" _ "Shut the _fuck_ up John, before I do something I'll regret!" Mello shouted.

Matt nodded to himself. "Violent. Just like you," He laughed. "See you soon." Then he hung up, and smoked a cigarette contentedly in the school's parking lot as he waited for Mello to arrive.

Mello walked up next to Matt's Camaro in a black collared shirt that he was working on unbuttoning the top few buttons. He pulled a compact hairbrush out of his pocket, brushing his hair quickly. "So, we're not just buddies to screw around with anymore?" Matt blushed deeply as Mello entered his Camaro.

"Something like that," Matt said nonchalantly.

"Let's go, I don't have forever." Mello insisted.

"Right," Matt said, and drove to the sub shop.

They arrived at Subway and exited Matt's car, jogging into the busy shop. They both ordered their subs, Mello ordering a six inch and Matt ordering a foot long.

"So, Jessebell still mad at you?" Mello asked conversationally, biting into his sub.

"Yeah. She made me sleep on the couch last night. I just woke up like an hour ago, I was up all night gaming. Couldn't sleep."

"Ouch," Mello said.

"Your students sure are interesting... You don't get in trouble for cursing at them?" Matt asked.

"Well, they're twelfth graders. They're big kids, they can strike a deal. So, they call me Mello and I get to treat them how I would treat anyone else... Minus physical violence, of course." Mello explained.

"Haha, nice. Seems like they know you pretty well." Matt said.

"Yeah, they've been with me the whole year, some of them the previous year, too." Mello explained.

Suddenly, Matt began to giggle. "Hey, Mello..."

"What?" Mello asked, looking at Matt snappily.

"Mine's longer." Matt burst out laughing.

Mello laughed too. "I love double entendres."

* * *

A few days later, to ease himself of the stresses of having a pregnant wife, Matt went for a drive. "Yo, Mello," Matt called, knocking on said man's front door.

"Hey, Matt. What's up?" Mello opened up the front door, inviting Matt inside. "You here for something...?"

"I wanted to know if you'd like to go for a drive with me," Matt grinned.

"You don't want to do anything?" Mello's voice sounded teasing, and held a sexy vibe. He laughed.

"After?" Matt suggested, pressing his lips to Mello's for a moment.

"Why do you want me to go for a ride with you anyway?" Mello asked, leaning into the kiss.

"I've got some serious road rage, I'm told it's amusing." Matt laughed.

"Alright, I'll come." Mello followed Matt into his car, and they pulled out of the driveway together.

"I've got an mp3 player here, you can put on whatever music you find," Matt said, pulling out of suburbia and onto the interstate highway. Mello put the mp3 player on shuffle to see what would come on. He plugged it into the stereo, hearing some strange 8-bit music come out.

"Video game music? Really, Matt?"

"It's the theme for Final Fantasy I! Don't hate!" Matt insisted, laughing.

Mello hit the next button, and a Fall Out Boy song came on. "Something remotely normal," Mello said with a laugh. As they continued on the highway, Mello found that they were going increasingly fast. "Matt, you're pushing ninety already."

"Scared?" Matt mocked, giving Mello's hand a squeeze. Mello scoffed. "You're going to get yourself in an accident one day."

"Not likely. I've got excellent reflexes," Matt boasted, turning into a lane with less traffic. "Come on, can't you drive any faster?" He complained. Suddenly, the car lurched forward. Matt had slammed on the breaks. A deafening horn sounded, surprising Mello. "_Fucker_!" Matt shouted, slamming his hand into the steering wheel to blast the horn. "Bitch!" He flipped his middle finger out the window at the car in front of him, to which the driver in the car in front of them responded with the same gesture.

Mello began to laugh, and Matt sped up the car, getting into the lane next to the car with the bad driver. Matt rolled down his window so he was right next to the offending car. "_Fuck you_!" Matt screamed, speeding ahead as he heard the other car beep at him. They moved into the same lane, and then sped up. "The bitch is tailgating me!"

Mello rolled down his own window this time, looking back at the offending car. There was a brown haired man with a redhead woman in the passenger seat, and a baby in a car seat in the back. "They have a damn child," Mello growled. He stuck his middle finger out to the young family, making sure he was seen. He leaned out the window, screaming into the wind. A stream of curses even more colorful than Matt's own flowed out of Mello's mouth, and the young parents in the car's mouths slowly dropped, surprised at Mello's boldness.

"Damn, Mello!" Matt said excitedly. "You were awesome. I'll take you home now."

"That was fun," Mello said, rolling up his window. He pulled a hairbrush out of his pocket, running it through his hair before returning it to his pocket.

When they arrived back at Mello's house, Matt parked the car and got out with him. Mello pulled Matt into his house, immediately initiating a small make out session. "Mello," Matt breathed, pushing him off for a moment. "I've got to get home soon."

" 'Soon' isn't 'now', is it?" Mello asked, a suggestive smirk placed on his face. Matt shook his head. "I guess it's not."

* * *

"Why won't you take off those stupid goggles Matt? You know I don't like them! Why can't you just listen to me?" Jessebell leaned over the counter, looking out into the living room, where Matt sat on the couch, rolling his eyes because he knew he could get away with it. His wife couldn't see.

"There's always something that you don't like! Can't you just be happy with anything?" Matt rose his voice to match Jessebell's, getting up off the couch, his lips a thin line.

Jessebell ran a hand over her slowly swelling belly, watching Matt dissapear around the corner. "Where are you going?" She asked, her voice sbrupt and snappish. She couldn't stand how Matt ran away from her when she tried to address important issues.

When Matt jumped into his car, he slammed on the ignition as soon as the Camaro's engine turned on, humming turning to growling. It had been four days since he'd had lunch with Mello, four days during which Matt had stayed cooped up with Jessebell, as she went from trying to seduce him one night to yelling and complaining the next. He turned off the semi private street where he lived and pulled onto a busier street, blaring his horn at the other cars as they inched along the road at a sickening pace.

He weaved between them, trying to get as far away as possible. He was growing tired of how Jessebell picked apart all the aspects of his personality and tried to rearrange them in the neat order she wanted them in. He was glad to be in his car, lurching around bends, daring the speed limit. It was freeing, zipping along the surface of the world, nothing to hold him back.

Quickly he maneuvered his hands over the steering wheel, screeching around into the highway. Matt could feel the wheels of the Camaro slide, feel the car's back twist away from him. His mind was strangely blank as it happened, as though time had stopped, everything was a blank screen, no room for any sort of thoughts. He felt the car spin into the ditch, but he didn't register the fact that he had crashed until after he had been jolted severaly by his seatbelt, until after he could feel the blood trinkling down his chin, the searing pain in his arm, the clutch of a strap around his chest. Even then he didn't feel anything resembling panic, just sat and tried to breathe. He didn't feel anything until the world really stopped, and then he blacked out.


	6. Your Guardian Angel

CaffinatedCaffy: I'm sorry Axcent, I couldn't help it. I loved the hospital so much, I almost didn't want to leave! So, this chapter is longer than our usual chapters, so enjoy, and review ;) Oh... and sorry about the mini-religion lesson. It's fascinating, in my opinion.

Axcent: Caffy, stop working so damn hard on this, I can't keep up! Lovely up there ^ wrote almost all of this one too... curse you vacation! Curse you to heck :D

Your Guardian Angel

"Okay, guys, now whoever gets the answer to this problem gets a piece of my chocolate bar. And you have to use the quadratic formula. Go!" The classroom was suddenly filled with the sound of pencils scratching on paper. Mello had already solved the problem approximately in his head, and was currently waiting for his students to finish, when his phone rang. "Damn it, who's calling now...?

Hello?" Mello picked up the phone agitatedly.

"Hello, do you know Mail Matthew Jeevas?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Yes, who the Hell are you? And why are you calling?"

"Please calm down, Sir. I'm hospital personell. It seems Mail has been in a car accident. He was found on the side of the road with-"

"What's wrong with him!" Mello shouted at the top of his lungs, straining. He was already slipping on his leather jacket.

"Mail has broken a nose and extensive bruising with minor cuts. He's also got some rope burn from his seatbelt. The airbag seemed to have softened a big portion of the blow, so a lot of damage was avoided." The voice said.

"Fuck," Mello swore. "What hospital is this? Can I visit him?" He asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Mello, you're getting soft!" The class teased.

"Shut up!" Mello hissed.

"He's at Hope Hospital, on the sixth floor, right wing. Just ask a nurse for his room and they'll be glad to supply you."

"Right, thanks. Bye." Mello said, feeling defeated. Matt was hurt! His Matt, he was in trouble, and he needed to go see him. "Class, I have to go to the hospital. I'll bring in a substitute for you. Bye!" Mello called, slamming the classroom door shut behind him. He ran for the main office, his hair blowing in the motion he was creating. "I need a substitute for my class for the rest of the day! I have to go to the hospital." Mello said, signing out on the sheet. The secretary nodded to Mello, and he ran out of the office and out to the parking lot, hopping onto his motorcycle and zooming away.

When Mello arrived at the hospital, he was frantic. He knew Jessebell was probably already there, but he could care less. He needed to make sure Matt was okay - no matter what the doctor had told him. He parked his motorcycle in the only available parking lot - he had to pay to park there! Then he stormed in through the emergency entrance and received guidance as to where the main elevator was.

After an agonizingly long wait to get up to the sixth floor, he turned left and walked down a hallway for a bit until he found himself at a nurse's station. He wasted no time in waiting for them to become able to speak to him, and didn't care if they were busy. "Can one of you assist me? I'm here to visit a patient." He said loudly, his voice seemed shaky today...

"What is the name of the patient, sir?" A nurse wearing a pink set of scrubs asked with a pleasant smile.

"Mail Jeevas," Mello repeated the first name he had heard the doctor tell him.

"He's in room 6218, bed 1. I'll have Jeff take you to him - he's on watch for that room right now." She explained. "Jeff, take this man to visit a patient in 18-1!" The nurse pointed to Mello.

"Come with me," Jeff said.

Mello nodded curtly, following behind his fast pace. Jeff knocked twice on the door before announcing loudly, "Mail, you have a visitor." And then left.

* * *

Mello entered the room cautiously, afraid of what he would see. Then, he saw past the first curtain. There was Matt, lying in his hospital bed, an IV attached to his right arm. On his nose was a strange white stretchy bandage, keeping it in place. His head was elevated with pillows and the bed was inclined, and his skin was covered in blotchy, yellowish bruises. There were several small cuts all over his face. "Oh, Matt," Mello said, grabbing a chair to sit at Matt's side.

"Mello?" Matt craned his neck to see him. "I was expecting Jessebell to come in here, ranting like a mother fucker," He laughed.

"What happened?" Mello asked sternly.

"I got in a fight with Jessebell, and I went for a drive to try to cool down. Next thing I know, the Camaro's spinning out of control and I find myself in a ditch. Crazy shit, huh?"

"What'd you two fight about?" Mello asked, his voice laced with concern.

"She was nagging me about my goggles. The last few days with her have been awful. One night she was trying to convince me to have sex with her - not happening while she's pregnant" Matt shuddered visibly, "- and the next night she won't shut the fuck up!" Matt groaned. "Are you okay, Mello? You don't seem... yourself."

Mello laughed slightly. "I suppose I'm not exactly myself. I was worried sick about you when I got that phone call from the hospital, Matt. Even my class noticed."

"Thanks, Mels." Matt said with a smile.

"Mels?" Mello inquired, cocking his head to the side.

"It's a nickname for you. You don't like it?" Matt frowned.

"It's great." Mello grinned and placed a feather-light kiss to Matt's own, and then pulled away. "Do you need anything?"

"Just a cigarette," Matt said with a laugh. "But I'm not going to be getting any of those for a bit, not until they let me out of here. Shit, I need to call Near. I haven't spoken to him in _forever_. He's going to be so mad..." Matt muttered.

"Who's Near?" Mello asked.

"Near's a close friend of mine. He was my best man at the wedding." Matt explained, taking Mello's cell phone with a smile.

"Hello? Near, hey, it's Matt. Yeah, I know we haven't spoken in a long time. ...I'm in the hospital. I got in a car accident. No, I'm alright. Just a broken nose and some bruises and cuts. Thanks, Near. Bye." Matt closed the phone and handed it back to Mello. "Near's going to come for a visit."

"Right." Mello said, running his fingers softly through Matt's hair. "I was so worried about you. You know I prayed a rosary for you on my way?"

"Prayed a rosary?" Matt repeated, confused. "What's that? I've never been extremely religious or anything, so I don't really know."

"Well, on a rosary every bead basically represents a different prayer. To pray a rosary means you go through each bead on the rosary, and you dedicate the praying of the rosary to someone, or something. In this case, I dedicated it to you." Mello explained with a small smile on his face.

"Do you pray the rosary often?" Matt asked.

"I pray it every other day." Mello said. "But this time was special."

So you pray these specific prayers to God, and then you dedicate these prayers to me?" Matt asked.

"You've got the gist of it. Like, here," Mello reached into the front of his shirt, pulling out a large rosary. "This is my rosary. I pray the Apostles Creed, followed by one Our Father, three Hail Mary's, and a Glory Be. Next come the five mysteries - represented as these groups of beads here," Mello pointed to groups of 5 beads, each separated by one larger bead. "-each consisting of one Our Father, ten Hail Mary's, and a Glory Be. I finish the rosary with Hail Holy Queen." Mello explained with a smile.

"That's a lot of prayers," Matt remarked.

"Well, they say that one who prays faithfully to God will receive what they ask for. I asked for your wellbeing, and I received. The Hail Mary's are short, only a few lines. So it's very simple." Mello explained.

"You memorized all of those prayers?" Matt asked.

"Just like your cheat codes I'm sure, they've been ingrained in my brain for years." Mello laughed.

"Ah, I didn't realize Matt was religious," Near said, walking into the room. "Who is this?"

"Near, this is Mello. Mello, Near." Matt explained. "Not exactly. Mello was just explaining the rosary to me."

"Right." Near said, and turned to Mello. "It is a pleasure to meet Mello." He didn't offer a hand.

"You too," Mello said, somewhat perturbed by Near's inability to address him directly.

"So, what has possessed Matt to get himself in a car accident?" Near asked conversationally, sitting down in a chair at the foot of Matt's bed.

"I got in a fight with Jessebell, and took a ride to cool off. I ended up spinning out into a ditch on the side of the highway." Matt explained with a shrug and sheepish smile.

"So Matt chooses to wait until he is hurt to contact me. I see." Near brought a hand to his hair, and began to curl a finger full of it.

"Sorry, Near." Matt apologized.

"In any case, I must be leaving." Near said. "Get well soon. I wish luck to Matt and his spouse." Then, Near exited the hospital.

"...Why wouldn't he address either of us directly?" Mello asked.

"It's just the way he is," Matt shrugged.

"He kind of freaks me out," Mello admitted.

"He freaks everyone out a little bit," Matt laughed.

"Are you hungry or anything? Do you want any food?" Mello asked, noting that he was actually hungry as well.

Matt laughed at Mello's enthusiasm. "The nurses will bring me food. But you can go get something yourself if you want. You didn't get to eat lunch, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I'll get something to bring up here." Mello said, standing up from his seat. "Don't go anywhere, gorgeous," He stood and kissed Matt chastely, leaving the room.

Mello had to ask where the cafeteria was, to which the nurse responded by saying it's on the first floor. After a stop in a restroom, this small chapel he found (yes, a chapel in a hospital! Go figure), and an accidental detour, Mello had found the cafeteria. He quickly got himself some food, rushing back up to the sixth floor to be with Matt again. When Mello returned, a small tray of food in his hands, Jessebell had came into the room with another girl. Curiously, Mello entered and placed his tray of food on the bedside table, listening to their conversation.

"...can't believe that you did this to yourself! You broke your nose, and look at all of those bruises! If you had just stayed home and talked to me about it, this would have been avoided!" Jessebell said angrily, making sure her voice didn't raise too much so as not to bring attention to them. It held just enough bite to send shivers down Mello's spine. Jessebell's friend stood next to her, nodding resolutely.

"Well I can't believe that you brought your friend here, on your way to go _out to dinner_! While I'm here in the hospital, no less. You couldn't even sit back with me and keep me company. Hell, even Near would have stayed had he not had somewhere to go! Sam even came by! Sam, a coworker! We haven't even seen each other outside of work," Matt growled.

"If you had _stuck around_ in the first place, none of this would have happened," Jessebell said bitterly.

"If you hadn't tried to fucking change everything about me, _maybe_ this wouldn't have happened. If you could just _accept_ me for me, like you used to! Never once when we were dating did you complain about my attire, or my goggles, or how I live my life. Now all of a sudden you act like you have an all-access VIP pass to my wardrobe, my stuff, and my lifestyle! It's not okay, Jessebell, and I don't know _what_ changed, but it better change back really fucking fast."

"Or what?" Jessebell challenged.

"You don't want to know. You _really_ don't want to fucking know. Now you and Britany better get the fuck out of here, before I rip this damn IV out of my arm and make you leave myself." Matt said, his eyes narrowing. "I'll see you when I'm discharged, _sweetheart_." Matt's voice was venomous.

Jessebell, too shocked to say anything, simply left the room, Britany tailing behind her. Not before giving Mello a harsh glare, though. When they left, Mello finally spoke. "Jesus, Matt," Mello muttered. "I leave the room and you get yourself into this?"

"Sorry," Matt smiled sheepishly. Mello sat in his previous seat, picking at his food periodically. "When are you going to leave?"

Mello scoffed. "I'm not leaving 'till I have to, sweetie. I probably won't leave until early tomorrow morning for home, then school."

"What about clothes and stuff?" Matt asked. "You won't be very comfortable, and they'll discharge me in a couple of days. You don't need to stay,"

"I want to." Mello insisted, putting aside the tray of food and picking up his briefcase. "I'll just get my work done here, with you."

"Work?" Matt asked.

"I have to grade papers and the like," Mello laughed.

"Ooh, can I see?" Matt sat up slightly, looking into Mello's leather briefcase.

"No," Mello laughed. "It's not your work."

A knock sounded on the door, and then a teenage girl appeared in the entryway. "Hi, my name's Rachel, I'm a volunteer here. I just wanted to know if you needed any water, or wanted anything?" The girl smiled sweetly, brown hair framing her face. She wore a drab pair of khaki shorts and a plain white collared shirt, paired with white nurse sneakers.

"Actually, could you just return this tray down to the cafeteria?" Mello spoke up, handing her his empty food tray.

"And get him a blanket and a pillow," Matt urged, pointing to Mello.

"Oh, is he staying the night with you?" Rachel smiled again. "Of course, I'll get you guys your things right away. Just hand me your tray?"

Mello gave the girl the tray, and she disappeared from the room, a smile and a whirl of hair. "I wonder how my Camaro is," Matt said with a frown, turning on the television. He turned it to the news. "Hey, think they'll have something on about me?"

Mello laughed. "Maybe." They both sat, watching the local news, straining to hear the quiet noise.

_"...Today there was a major traffic jam on the I-85 interstate, which caused a car to spin out of control and off of the side of the road. Authorities report that only minor injuries were sustained."_ The news featured a photo of the jam, and then suddenly it was gone.

"There's your answer," Mello said, going back to grading the school papers.

"That's so awesome! I was on the news," Matt said excitedly.

"Well just don't go getting yourself in trouble to see yourself up there again," Mello laughed.

Soon, the room grew quiet as Matt turned to the Discovery channel, and Mello continued to grade papers. Rachel came back into the room, knocking on the door with a grin. "Hi, I'm here with your pillow and blanket." She walked into the room, handing the items to Mello. "You don't need anything else, do you?"

"Can you find out how my car is?" Matt asked with a smile.

"I can go ask your nurse-"

"The nurses won't tell me," Matt growled, "They said it's in the files, but don't have the time to go through information just about a car. Could you do that?"

"I'm not allowed to go through the patient's files..."

"So you know where they are!" Mello declared, an evil glint in his eye.

"Sir, I don't think that's a very good idea..."

"I'll pay you to do it." Mello offered.

"I could get in serious legal trouble doing that! I'll never get to come back here again," Rachel said with a frown.

"Fifty," Mello said, a crazed look in his eye.

"Mello, it's no big deal," Matt insisted.

Rachel sighed deeply. "Fine. But if I get caught, it's way more than fifty!" Rachel said, running out of the room.

Matt laughed. "I can't believe you, Mello."

Mello blinked, turning to Matt with his signature sly grin. "What don't you believe?" he leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and resting his head in his hand, fingers curling through his hair.

Matt smiled, laughing lightly and shaking his head. "I suppose I shouldn't expect anything else from you." He turned away from Mello then, twisting the sheet's fabric around his fingers. The atmosphere was light, easy, and Matt reveled in the delicate silence that cloaked itself over the room, quieted the squeak of Mello's chair every-time the blonde shifted, dulled the whir of the over head fan that blew cool air over the sterile surfaces throughout. No sound asserted itself, nothing seemed imposing. Matt felt content not to have to say a word, not to feel obligated to join conversation. Even though his nose ached, his arms felt like lead, his brows twinged when he moved them; even though his body felt battered, he was comfortable.

Somehow he knew he could say anything if he chose too, and he fought himself not to wonder why he felt so secure here, between slick white washed walls, under alabaster covers, silhouetted against an afternoon sky that sat like a painting in the window.

Five minutes later, Rachel came back into the room, and Matt's head snapped up. "Your car's just a bit dirty, and has a dent in the side from hitting the guard rail. The hospital's holding it for you 'til you get out." She told him, smiling sweetly and looking proud of herself for her successful bit of deviance.

"Oh, thank God!" Matt said, placing a hand over his heart.

Rachel held a hand out expectantly, and Mello placed the fifty in it. "Thanks!" She said happily, and left the room.

"You're unbelievable," Matt said to Mello, grinning. "Thank you." He leaned over, wrapping his arms around his outstretched legs and looked outside, blinking at the direct sunlight and curling his back. He could feel the tickle of Mello's eyes on him, but he didn't turn around, choosing instead to dwell on the sad absence of his goggles. He knew they had been broken in the crash, and he dearly missed the protective lenses. Staring into the sun now, he missed them even more.

"Hey, Matt?"

Matt's head swiveled in the direction of Mello's voice, his eyes locked with the blonde's. "Hmm?"

Mello smirked, tapping a booted foot on the floor. The clicks resounded, accentuating the fact that Mello never answered.

"What is it, Mello?" Matt asked, tilting his head and running his tongue over a split in his lower lip.

Mello's smirk only grew, and he rested his arms on Matt's bed, looking up at him. The fingers of one of his hands strayed over the sheets and up the exposed skin of Matt's back, and the redhead jumped up again, blushing furiously. "Nice boxers, Matty. I'm loving this hospital gown." Mello chuckled, pulling at the strings that tied the fabric together.

Matt blinked, pushing himself away from Mello, unable to pull his gaze away from the blonde's, his eyes wide. "It's not my fault." He mumbled, his shoulders slumping. "This sucks. I want my goggles."

Mello nodded, moving with Matt and refusing to pull his hand away. "It's sort of your fault."

"None of it's my fault, Mello." Matt whined, looking down and the bruises decorating his pale arms. None of it was his fault, he was a victim of circumstance, surely. Behind his voice crouched the meaning of a million other things, things that weighted on his mind, threatening to pounce when he let his guard down. For now, he had control, for now he pushed them aside, even as they brush his voice. It wasn't his fault he was in this situation, wasn't his fault Jessebell was never happy. She practically drove him out of the house, onto the streets, into Mello's arms! He looked over at the blonde, who was making large circles over his back, Mello who was here now, who was watching him with a sharp edge in his eyes. His own eyes hardened, and he pushed his head towards Mello, tilting his nose away from the blonde's, crashing their lips together, his spine twisting around awkwardly. It was all Jessebell's fault. It wasn't his fault, none if it was his fault. He never asked to be alone with the best looking man on the face of the planet, and it scared him how much he wanted to be. It wasn't his fault, though.

Mello pulled Matt closer by the waist, turning the redhead to face him properly and taking control away from the other. Mello didn't know why Matt was all over him all of a sudden, but he certainly had no complaints.

"I thought you might-"

Matt jumped backwards, falling against Mello's arms and spun around. Standing in the doorway, two glasses of water in her hands, was Rachel. Her eyes were wide as saucers, her mouth agape. Mello only pulled Matt back against him, smiling at the girl. "50 more bucks says you forget what you saw."

Matt wiggled out of Mello's arms, blushing, and tried to get a word in before Rachel closed the door behind her, a hand over her smiling mouth, obviously trying to stem a giggle. After staring at the closed door for a moment, he turned to Mello instead, blinking. His hands shook, and he pushed Mello away when the blonde tried to take hold of them. All he could think to say was a shaky "You better give her 100."

Matt was discharged from the hospital a couple days later, after getting into some trouble from the hospital staff about demanding to be up and about. Mello had bought him a new pair of goggles, and everything seemed fine.

Except for the fact that he needed to go home to Jessebell today. Matt was furious with Jessebell for acting like that towards him in the hospital, and for bringing along that jackass Britany, too. Not only was she inconsiderate, Jessebell had the nerve to yell at Matt, when she was the one at fault here!

With a grimace clear on his face, Matt got into his dented Camaro, heading home with an intent to send it to get it fixed up soon. "I'm back from the hospital," Matt called, wearing the stained clothes he had worn when he got in the accident.

"Good, I need you to set up a vacation for us. I need one after all this shit you've caused." Jessebell said, a hand placed protectively over her bulging stomach.

Matt coughed. "What, you expect me to be able to pay for vacation and my hospital bills? Are you insane? I just got back from the hospital, my nose is still setting for Christ's sake, and you expect me to book a vacation so you can relax?"

"Yeah. Preferably somewhere tropical. Maybe the Florida Keys?"

"The fucking Florida Keys? What has crawled up your ass lately? I can't believe that you have the audacity to go from yelling at _me _for not listening to you, for _getting in an accident_, and then to say that you expect a vacation from me!" Matt shouted angrily.

"Well, you've got that computer thing you do, right?" She asked, throwing Matt an innocent smile.

"Oh, so now all of a sudden you approve of my ability to hack when you want something. Are you a teenager, Jessebell? 'Cus you're sure_ acting_ like one. We could be resolving whatever fucking problems we have, but instead we're standing here fighting over some fucking -" Matt's voice cracked. He could feel tears brimming at his eyes, for some reason. "- f-fucking vacation that you want, and nitpicking at each other's every single_ fucking fault_."

A tear rolled down Matt's cheek, and Jessebell sighed, gasping dramatically. "Oh, you're right Matt! I shouldn't be so pushy. I'm sorry," She moved to give Matt a hug, but he rejected her.

"No... Just... Go away, for now. Go into some other room. I need to think." Matt sat down on the living room's couch, putting his head in his hands. He watched Jessebell walk away, her face showing how dejected and confused she felt.

Matt felt no mercy, as he delved into what his mind was trying to figure out for himself.


	7. Caught In The Act

Caffy- Sorry for the late-ness! Review, my lovelies. :D

Axcent- Britany's so vain, she thinks this story's about her.

Caught In The Act

The television screen flashed a toothy grin at Matt and Jessebell, its speakers telling the story of a man with large white teeth and flopping hair. Apparently, he had won the lottery. Matt didn't care. He shifted on the couch and yawned, despite the early hour, scratching a spot at the back of his head. He closed his eyes, shutting out the sprawling lawns and white picket fences that made up lottery man's large property. Jessebell gushed over the small fountain sitting perched on the grass there, nudging Matt in a way she must have deemed discreet. The more she cooed and gaped, the more he despised the programme.

He laid his head on the back of the couch, sighing and pulling his feet closer to his body.

"Matt, what's your mother like?" Jessebelle suddenly piped up from beside him, tilting her head and tossing her ponytail over her shoulder, a smile Matt knew very well stretching her lips. "I wouldn't know, seeing as I've never met her."

Matt's lips tightened into a thin line, his eyelids tensing until he saw red. He was growing weary of Jessebell's little taunts, the seemly innocent words that somehow held so much sting. "My mother's great. She's really great." He never moved his head, letting locks of red hair fall freely over his goggles. It was the truth; his mother was great; amazing, really, though he said it half to annoy Jessebell.

"So you're a mama's boy." Jessebell smiled at the television, as it blinked out of commercial break and zoned in on an intricate spiral staircase. Jessebell's tone was light, hiding a laugh behind each syllable, and she reached for Matt's hand in the silence afterwards.

For some reason unbeknownst to him, Matt felt offended. He ignored Jessebell's invitation to take her outstretched fingers, instead pulling a piece of his lower lip between his teeth and suddenly focusing intently on the TV screen.

"Matt, don't be difficult." Jessebell said curtly, reaching into the redhead's lap and pulling his hand into her own well-manicured one. "I'm just saying most guys aren't so… loving towards their mothers and distant towards their wives. Whatever." Her tone flattened and then began to rise, her eyes flashing with the same emotion as the cheeky smile of earlier.

"Jessebell, I don't know why you complain about my being difficult when you enjoy starting fights as much as you do." Matt remarked, pulling his hand away from the blonde woman next to him and trying to keep his tone light and casual. As always, he failed to hide the annoyance.

Jessebell huffed, drawing back her hand and slapping Matt weakly across the arm with a flash of red fingernails. "I don't start fights, Mail. I don't know what world you live in, but in mine, husbands treat their wives respectively and… and… they care about them more than their whack job parents!"

Matt was aghast. He shifted even further away from his wife, mulling over what she had said. "My mum's not a whack job." He stated coldly, his fists balling, knuckles paling and small semi circles forming on his palms from the pressure of his nails. He could feel his nose itching, could already see the way the television screen was blurring. His mum was _not _a whack job, no matter what Jessebell said; no matter what they all said, the doctors, the people at school, and the parents who acted as though he was unfortunate for living with someone who took medication just to function. He knew Jessebell had no idea his mother had phsycosis, but her last few words still rang with memories of past teasing from his peers.

He felt the tears before Jessebell pointed them out, felt the stress of being under her constant scrutiny rise until it spilled down his cheeks.

"Matt? Are you crying?" But Matt was already gone, already bolting away from the couch, already trying to forget the scenes that flashed through his head in which his mother, left behind in England, called for him from down the dark hallway of that little old house, like she always did at night, lifting the covers and asking him to sit with her for a while, until she could drift back into her dreams, and he would stay there all night, just to make sure those dreams never took a wrong turn. He pulled the blankets of the bed in his and Jessebell's room over his head and breathed deeply, trying to regain his composure, wondering why he was so easily bothered these days, why he sniffed and sobbed just because of a stupid offhand comment. He resolved to feel better, then, sitting in his fort of blankets, to do something happy. Positive thinking, they say. That's what Matt decided to do.

* * *

Matt awoke the next day with an idea in his head - one that seemed to fight all his requirements. It was happy, positive, possibly it would even be fun. He swung out of bed and told Jessebell he would be running some errands and then going to work, to which she frowned and turned back to her cooking, not a sound from her lips as goodbye. The moment he left the house and was in his Camaro, Matt had dialed Mello's number and was waiting for him to pick up. "Hello? It's Matt. You won't believe it, I woke up this morning and I had an amazing idea. Are you free today?" He forced the peppiness into his voice, hoping desperately that Mello would say yes, that he would flash the other life Matt was started to prefer over his current one. He wanted to drink up Mello now, now that he and Jessebell were having such a hard time getting along, wanted to bask in the freedom of knowing there was someone he could run to, even if his tail was between his legs.

"I'm free today, yes," Mello sounded skeptic. "What exactly do you have in mind?" Of course he could feel the tension in Matt's words, feel them shake with desperation.

"Let's go on a date." Matt insisted as a blush formed on his cheeks, but he continued. "I thought we could have a picnic in the park, with wine and everything, like in those movies." Something he'd never had with Jessebell, something he'd wanted, maybe, when he saw how happy it seemed to make others feel. It really was a good idea, going on a picnic.

Mello laughed. "A picnic sounds fun. I expect you to bring all of the stuff we need for a picnic, but I'll keep the 'incriminating evidence' for you. Just make sure that you bring me something chocolatey."

"Deal! I'll see you in a little bit, I have to go shopping now. Bye," Matt said, hanging up the phone. For a moment there, Matt had almost said 'I love you' at the end. Was that just an automatic response, or was his mind trying to tell him something...?

Matt shook his head, pulling into the supermarket. He easily found a picnic kit, with a basket, blanket, and cheap but pretty dishes. He got some brie, a tasty, soft cheese, and French bread to complement it. He also found some yummy chocolate pastries, which he got along with two hot French onion soups and a small classic bottle of grape wine. Damn, this was really quite ridiculous. But Matt relented and bought a regular chocolate bar on his way out, and quickly went into his Camaro, assembling the picnic basket. He dialed Mello's number again as he sped off towards his house. When the phone picked up, he immediately started talking. "I'm on my way, be ready. I don't want the food getting cold," Then Matt snapped his phone shut and quickly arrived at Mello's condo.

Mello was waiting at his front door, so Matt got out of his Camaro and parked it in Mello's garage, switching over to Mello's convertible with the picnic basket. Mello grinned at the sight of Matt with a picnic basket, taking his face in his hands and placing a firm kiss on his lips. "You're so fucking cute. Come on," Mello said, and pulled Matt into his car.

When they got to the park, Mello and Matt chose a sunny part that was somehow secluded from the rest of the people there. Matt set out the picnic blanket, taking out the soup, bread and brie. They toasted, smiling to one another. "Bon appetit," Matt teased, biting into the brie.

"Where's the chocolate?" Mello frowned.

"That's dessert, dear," Matt grinned.

"So, how did you get away from your wife in order to come on this delightful date with me? Which, by the way, is the best date I've ever been on," Mello smiled and kissed Matt, laying flat on his stomach now as he ate the French onion soup.

"I told her I had errands to run, and then I was going to work," Matt said.

"Aren't you worried she'll find out you lied?" Mello asked.

"Not too much. She's snoopy, but she's not going to just randomly show up at my work and demand to know where I am. She has some common courtesy," Matt laughed, the coldness he felt towards Jessebell at the moment slipping under his tone.

"Or at least, you think she does," Mello corrected, biting into the brie with the French bread.

"Right," Matt grinned, watching the other people in the park. It was mostly adults, jogging, bicycling, or walking along paths, the occasional parents and toddler, or a young couple on a date - such as themselves. "Mello, have you ever wanted children?"

Matt surprised Mello by asking this question. "Well, I love kids, to be quite honest. They can be a total pain in my ass, but in the end it's such a great feeling to watch them be successful. Maybe that's why I like being a teacher. I've always considered adopting, but I just couldn't do it on my own, you know?" Mello supplied.

"Oh, that's so sad," Matt said, moving to Mello's side of the blanket to hug him.

"How do you think you're going to handle your child when he/she arrives?" Mello asked.

"I bet I'll be one of those dads that are always playing with their kids," Matt laughed at the thought, "I guess I'll just be taking a backseat to Jessebell, she can be pretty demanding..." Matt muttered.

"You never seem happy when you talk about Jessebell, Matt. Yet when you look into my eyes I see a passion you're lacking with her," Mello said suddenly, locking eyes with Matt. "You worry me,"

"You're just much more fun than Jessebell," Matt ensured. "She's... boring."

"Matt, what is sex like with a woman?" Mello asked, his gaze piercing.

"What is sex like with a man?" Matt countered.

"It's like... you know that you trust this guy, and vice versa, when you're both willing to go through with such interesting conditions just to be 'one' in the sexual definition of the term. It must be so much easier with women," Mello muttered. "But don't get me wrong, it's very, very pleasurable," He laughed.

"...Would you have sex with me, Mello?" Matt asked, his face red as an apple.

Mello laughed. "Is sex with Jessebell that bad?"

"Awful," Matt concluded. "She's such a prude, and a fucking tease, too..."

"I can certainly see the tease," Mello recalled having dinner with Matt and his wife, and quickly shook the memory away. "We can do it any night, just name it and I'll demand that we have a sleepover. Jessebell can't argue with that," He grinned.

"Thank you," Matt smiled, hugging Mello tightly as he nuzzled into his chest. "Here's your pastry. I got you a chocolate bar, too," Matt pulled the confections out of the picnic basket, making Mello grin.

"No, thank you, Mattie," Mello insisted, biting into the chocolate pastry.

Matt blushed at the nickname, smiling as he ate some of his own pastry. "What do you like to do, Mello? I hardly know anything about you,"

"Well, I'll only answer that if you tell me what you like to do, too." Mello grinned, "Hmm. I like to eat chocolate, play games, teach, tease, learn, dance, and socialize, I suppose." He answered.

"Okay then, I like to play video games, smoke, fix things, make things better-"

"You mean you're a tinkerer?" Mello asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I like to make things run better than they were designed to. I like hacking, cracking, programming, and just relaxing. In fact, I wouldn't mind going on a vacation soon, but Jessebell always chooses the most expensive places to stay..." Matt mumbled.

Mello nodded, a smile quirking the corner of his lips. Truthfully, he liked it when Matt bad mouthed his wife; it made him feel better about himself. Not that he needed the ego boost, he certainly didn't, being the confident person he was, but knowing Matt held him in higher esteem than Jessebell was nice. Pawing through the picnic basket and leaving the chocolate bar hanging between his teeth, Mello pulled out a bottle of wine, tilting it under the sun, his smile widening. "Wine for lunch, Matty?"

Matt looked up, propping himself on his elbows, and nodded. "I like wine."

Mello blinked at him, swirling the liquid around in it's bottle and laying back down on the grass. "So you like making things better and you like wine." A smile danced in the blonde's eyes, mirroring the sincerity of the one playing on his lips.

Matt laughed airily, turning to look down on Mello and pulling his bottle opener out of the basket. "Shut up." He lifted the bottle out of Mello's hands and popped off the cork.

"Did you bring glasses?" Mello inquired, looping his arm around Matt's waist and pulling the redhead down beside him.

Matt shook his head, his smile turning into a small frown. "I forgot." He swished the wine, like Mello had, watching it slop around the neck of the bottle. It sure looked good. Then, ignoring Mello's laughs, he took a swig.

Mello took the bottle from the other, copying him, still laughing lightly.

Along the path cutting through the park, a solitary walker pushed a bright pink buggy, pausing for a moment to pull her long cinnamon hair into a knot at the top of her head and glance in a small toy mirror hanging around the stroller's handle bars, brushing her bangs out of her eyes to see her makeup better. This woman's name was Britany, a stay at home mum who often jogged through the park with her toddler. A short 4 months ago she had been doned in a scarlet dress, clutching a small bouquet between her well manacured fingers, watching an ecstatic Jessebell walk down the aisle, into the arms of a nervous looking Matt. She, of course, hadn't approved of the marriage. Matt was, in her not so humble opinion, a lazy, half assed, foul mouthed boy who certainly wasn't rich enough to be a half decent husband.

She did want Jessebell to be happy, though, so she cheered and congratulated her like a good friend.

Quickly flipping her cell phone open, Britany glanced around the park, closing it again as she saw, lying out across the grass, a familiar looking redhead, swallowing wine like his life depended on it, secured in the arms of another... man? She quickly turned back to her phone, smiling subtely. Jessebell would want to hear about this! With one hand firm around her stroller and the other dialing rapidly, Britany moved out of vision, behind a huddle of trees. When her friend's honey sweet voice cooed out a preppy "hello" in her ear, the brunette began to talk rapidly. "Oh, Jesse! You wouldn't even believe it, but I'm so telling you anyway. Well, see, I'm in the park, right? And I was running. So, then I look over and Matt's here! Yeah! Your Matt! He's, like, laying on the grass here drinking wine with some other guy!"

Jessebell was silent for a moment on the other end, before responding. "What did he look like?"

Britany tapped her fingers across the handle of the stroller, ignoring her child's calls. "I hardly think it matters, honey, they were practically cuddling! Well, if you insist, he was blonde. Sorta girly looking."

Jessebell nodded, then remembered that Britany couldn't see her through the phone. "It sounds like it's Mello. It's okay, they're friends. I know him."

Britany shook her head, snorting and pulling a toy out, which she handed to her son. "Honey, you say what you want. I knew Matt was bad news."

"He _was_ supposed to be at work..."

Britany laughed, pushing the stroller up a small hill, her eyes flashing happily. "Of course he was. Anyway, dear, I've got to go. Just remember: it's not your fault. You just picked the wrong sort." Then she hung up and tucked the phone back in her pocket.

Jessebell put the phone back on it's cradle and shook her head. Britany was right. Matt shouldn't lie to her, ever! If he wanted to visit his friend, he could have simply told her. She was just going to have to wait for Matt to come home. Then they would have a little talk about telling the truth.


	8. Pyjamas

Caffy- I'm in ur TV, kidnapping ur grandpa.

Axcent- Now that she's out of the way, I can concentrate on finding gay people!

Pyjamas

Mello and Matt were in a fit of giggles as Matt became intoxicated by the wine. Mello was laughing along with him, it proved to be infectious. "Come on, let's go back to my condo. We ate all the food," Mello urged, laughing at Matt's expression.

"Alright," Matt smiled, kissing Mello on the cheek.

Mello blushed slightly, and the two folded up the picnic blanket and threw away their trash. Then they loaded the basket into Mello's car, and drove to his home.

As Matt maneuvered the vehicle through streets he had memorized subconciously, he blinked, giggles still boiling in his throat. Mello was watching him, resting his cheek on his hand, as the redhead twirled the steering wheel, grinning broadly.

"That was fun." Mello commented, placing his hand on Matt's knee and raising his eyebrows as Matt's small blush grew.

Matt nodded just as a loud ringing pierced the comfortable atmosphere, and Matt jumped to answer.

"Matt..." Mello reached across, trying to grab the phone from the other. "You shouldn't drink, talk, and drive."

Matt whined out a long "no" and leaned away from Mello. "Hello?" He said into the phone.

On the other end came Jessebell's voice, accusing and impatient. "Matt! You said you were working!"

Matt laughed, switching ears and pumping the brakes at a stop light. Mello scowled, ready to forcibly pull over and pry Matt away from the driver's wheel.

"Britany saw you at the park Matt."

Matt gasped, then fell into a fit of giggles. Mello pulled the phone out of his hands, letting the redhead pull into the curb, his parking job sloppy at best.

"Matt? Are you... drunk?" Jessebell sounded appaled.

"Sorry, I'll be home a little late tonight. I thought I was working, but apperently not. I just met Mello at the park. Sorry I didn't phone." Mello imitated Matt's voice, running his fingers along the redhead's knee and snapping the phone shut.

Even though he wanted to be upset at Matt, he couldn't find a reason good enough. There was no getting around the fact that it was impossible to yell at Matt, especially when the other was smiling so sweetly.

At Mello's house, they put the picnic basket on the kitchen table, quickly forgetting it. "Do you want to see my room?" Mello asked with a glint in his eye, seemingly innocent.

"I'd love to," Matt smiled, following Mello into the bedroom.

Mello's room was chic. It had a modern bed in the middle, the comforters flowing over it elegantly. It was made and fresh, topped with tons of pillows. Just looking at it made Matt melt in happiness. His floors were wooden and polished, mostly covered with a beige area rug. There were large windows to the side, covered with thick white curtains that let the light in, but couldn't be seen through.

On impulse, Matt jumped onto Mello's bed, making the pillows bounce with him. Mello followed soon after, grinning as he pulled Matt in close to him for a hug. He pressed small kisses to Matt's neck, making him giggle. He ran his hands through Matt's coarse hair, catching gently in a knot now and again.

"Mello," Matt mumbled, turning around on Mello's bed in order to capture his lips full-on. He pressed themselves closer together, deepening the kiss.

"Oh, you want more?" Mello teased.

"Mm, yes." Matt moaned, pulling himself flush against Mello as their kiss deepened, tongues finding their ways inside one another's mouths.

Matt groaned in pleasure as he felt Mello's erection pressed up against him, and he gripped at Mello's back, trying to get closer, to feel him - all of him. "Do you want to...?" Mello breathed, unable to finish the sentence.

"Mello," Matt whispered, kissing Mello again.

"Yes?" He asked teasingly.

"Stop that," Matt breathed, nipping at Mello's neck. "You know what I want,"

"I want you to ask me for it," Mello smirked, angling his neck so that Matt could reach it better.

"Please, Mello," Matt breathed, sucking on Mello's skin.

"All you have to do is say it," Mello urged, suddenly flipping Matt over so that Mello was on top of him, hovering.

"Fuck me, Mello," Matt finally said, his face as red as his hair. "You're so embarrassing,"

Mello brought his lips down to smash back into Matt's, pulling at his shirt with what was obviously need. "You're sure?" He asked as he pulled Matt's shirt off, relishing in the feel of his warm skin.

"Positive," Matt breathed, unzipping his leather vest with a smirk that rivaled even Mello's.

* * *

Mello and Matt laid entwined in Mello's bed, their naked bodies covered in sweat. "Mello, my ass hurts in places I didn't even know existed," Matt groaned, untangling himself from Mello's limbs and walking over to his dresser to find something to put on. "Do you have any aspirin?"

"Let me find you something to wear," Mello urged, slipping behind Matt and guiding his hands through his clothing. "The aspirin's in the bathroom, in the medicine cabinet."

Mello pulled out a form-fitting black wife-beater made of some sporty material, and a pair of nondescript boxers for Matt, insisting that he dress the other. Matt blushed as Mello pulled on his boxers with the utmost amount of care. Matt pulled clothes onto Mello as well, and then Mello paused, thinking for a moment. Should he tell Matt what he said after they had collapsed in ecstasy, glistening in sweat and one another's semen? Or should he just keep it to himself, and wait and see if Matt really meant it? But Mello already knew the answer to that. He couldn't bother Matt with something like that now, especially with a child on the way. He would keep his mouth shut.

Mello kissed Matt on the cheek sweetly, and went to go sit back down on the bed and hopefully fall asleep again while Matt left in search of aspirin. It was in the early hours of the morning, moonlight was shining through his thick white curtains softly, and he felt at peace. Mello had someone to share his bed with - his life with. Even if it was just one night, and even if it was all in secrecy... He felt happy.

The bedroom door creaked open, light flooding in. "Matt?" Mello called out, squinting in the bright light that now enveloped the doorway.

"It's not Matt," A female voice called, entering the room and closing the door behind her. Mello could feel the bed move under her weight, and sat up to get a better look at her.

The comforter was pushed away as Mello sat up angrily. "Who the fuck-" Mello finally saw the woman's face, covered in a deep red blush at Mello's bare chest. Her stomach was bulging enough so that her pants wouldn't fit her correctly. She was pregnant. "Jessebell, why are you here? And why the Hell didn't you knock?"

"Well, Matt said he'd be home late, and I got worried," She frowned. "I figured he'd stay the night, but I realized he didn't have anything with him for an overnight, so I packed a bag for him," She gestured towards the backpack she was carrying.

"At 2 in the morning?" Mello stifled a yawn. He was exhausted. Jessebell shrugged sheepishly.

Then, Matt entered the room, looking a bit happier. "The aspirin worked!" He called out, his voice carrying a tune of happiness. Matt sat down in Mello's lap, making himself comfortable as he sighed contentedly.

"Matt, get off." Mello said, pushing Matt's body lightly, with no real force behind it. It was just for show.

"What? Why?" Mello looked at Matt sternly. "Mell-o," Matt complained, frowning.

Could Matt really not see Jessebell sitting right there? "I may like it, but your wife sure doesn't." Mello said.

"What are you-" Mello had had enough - he took Matt's face, gripping his jaw firmly with his hand, and turned it towards Jessebell, sitting awkwardly.

"Jessebell!" Matt said, alarmed. Quickly, he scuttled out of Mello's lap, a blush forming on his cheeks. Luckily, it was still dark in there, and was hard to see. "Why are you here? When did you get here? How did you...?"

"Shh, Matt," Mello commanded. Immediately Matt shut up. How come when Jessebell tried to get him to listen to her he never would? "She came in to give you some overnight stuff,"

"Oh.." Matt said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Thanks, Jesse," Matt said, plastering a smile on his face. He couldn't bear to come anywhere near her, let alone give her a kiss for thanks.

"Well," Jessebell huffed, puffing herself up. "It's obvious I'm not welcome here. I'll see you in the morning, Matt. Without _him_." She said, scoffing as she stormed off, the bag of overnight clothes in her arms.

On her way out, she stubbed her toe on the corner of the door, making her cry out in pain. "Damn it!" She cursed, trying to walk out without bruising her pride further. They heard a small crash of ceramic as she left, making Mello frown.

"What was that?" Matt asked.

"Probably my daisies," Mello growled, immediately standing up to go inspect the fallen plant as soon as they heard the front door slam. Matt followed Mello into the living room, where he opened the front door to yell, "Those were from my fucking mother, you bitch!"

Matt frowned, kneeling down to pick up the broken pieces of ceramic. "She shouldn't have done that," Matt said with a sigh, throwing away the shattered remains of the flower pot. "Did they mean something special to you?"

"I planted them with my mother when I was a little boy. She died when I was twelve, and when I moved out of my old home, my father gave them to me to keep. Together, we poured half of her ashes into the daisies' soil, and half into a pot of azaleas that she grew with my dad. Somehow they've lived on and continued to grow all this time." Mello smiled at the memory, carefully gathering up every bit of soil together. "C-could you get me a bowl? I need something to keep these in..." Mello's voice cracked. He was crying.

"Oh, Mello," Matt said softly, bringing him a deep bowl to keep the daisies in. "I'm so sorry she did that."

Matt helped Mello scoop the daisies and the soil into the bowl, patting it down. Mello stood and poured a small amount of water into the bowl, and set it on the kitchen counter. "Oh God, Matt," Mello cried, pulling Matt in for a hug. Tears rolled down his face as he cried, letting out a loud wail now and again.

"Come on, let's go back to bed," Matt urged, rubbing Mello's bare back in a comforting motion. "You're chilly. Get under the blankets," Matt said, pulling Mello into his bed with him. "I'll take care of you... Sweet dreams,"

"Thanks, Matt..." Mello said, before succumbing to sleep, gathered comfortably in Matt's arms.

* * *

The pair awoke groggily to an alarm. Matt moaned. "Why do you have an alarm set?"

"I've got work today, sweetheart. Want to shower with me?" Matt nodded animatedly, a smile blooming across his face. "But - you have to promise that we're only showering. I've got to get in to school on time, see," Mello smirked.

"Okay," Matt agreed, blushing lightly as he swung his legs out of bed, rubbing his eyes with a fist.

Mello sat up and linked his arm around Matt's waist, eyes scanning the tight black fabric of the top he'd leant the other the night before, pulling him closer to his chest and pecking him on the top of his head. "Wash your hair." He told Matt, pushing him away as suddenly as he'd grabbed him and stood.

Matt pouted, fumbling over his feet and over to the dresser, which he leaned against for a moment, watching Mello gather his school clothes and practically strut out of the room, stopping only momentarily on the threshold to check if Matt was coming.

"I don't want to wash my hair." Matt told Mello as he followed, stiffling a yawn behind his hand and glancing at the microwave clock in the kitchen as they passed. "Mels, it's only 6:00." He whined, stopping and slumping against the walls along the hallway, his eyes trained on Mello, his lips tilted down in a faint frown.

"No worries, Matty. I'll wash your hair for you." Mello ignored his second statement, holding open the door of the bathroom, wearing a self satisfied smirk as Matt ducked under his arm and approached the sink.

"Mello..." He started, as the other closed the door. "Jessebell took my clothes." He blinked up at the blonde, still blushing as Mello's eyes dragged over his current attire.

"I suppose you could just wear my clothes." Mello shrugged, turning away to twist the hot water tap.

Matt let his head drop, looking over at the sink with sudden intense interest. He knew he liked being next to Mello, knew he liked the way the blonde's eyes danced with mirth, with all those invinite emotions, liked the feel of his hands, liked him when he was crying and deperate, loved him when he was content and laughing. _Loved? _Matt shook his head, still inspecting the tap. He'd never felt the same way with Jessebell, even though his family was so fond of her. At first he had found her entertaining, thought of her as a good friend. When she had made her move on him, pressed her lips to his, he had responded in the way society said men should respond when undeniably gorgeous girls kissed them. He had wondered if the faint warm feelings he felt for her were love, if that was really all it was. But when he was with Mello, it was different. It surpassed friendship.

"Matt?"

The redhead looked up, locking eyes with the person who filled most of his thoughts. He made a noncommital noise and moved towards Mello, smiling again. He didn't know why he had to bring up those sorts of things when he had Mello right here, shirt already pooled on the tile floor. Not thinking had worked so far, but as his emotional attachment grew stronger, Matt found himself having more and more difficulty pulling that off.

"Something wrong?" Mello asked, blinking his sharp blue eyes at the other and reaching a hand to caress his cheek.

Matt leaned into Mello's hand, looking down. "Sorry." He whispered. He honestly hadn't meant to drag Mello into his musings, hadn't known his emotions had been so easy to read. He didn't want Mello worrying about him. He didn't want Mello to catch some of his melancholy.

Mello shook his head, stepping closer. "Don't apologize. Tell me if something's wrong." His voice was demanding, low.

"I just- I mean, Jessebell, she... she's going to so mad. Mello, what am I doing? I'm supposed to love her! And... I just don't know." Instead of backing away like Mello expected the redhead to do, Matt stepped into Mello, resting his head on the blonde's shoulder, seeking comfort and answers intead of withdrawing with the crashing realization of what he was doing to his wife.

Mello didn't know what to say. One moment Matt had been smiling, chirping his agreement to join Mello in the shower, complaining about having to wash his hair. Now he was breathing deeply and unevenly, shaking his head against the blonde's shoulder. Mello wondered what had triggered this, scanning their small conversation. It had been when Matt had realized Jessebell had kept his clothes. Wrapping his arms around Matt, Mello strained to understand exactly what the other was thinking, feeling.

"Matt." Mello murmered, pulling out of the hug to look into the redhead's deep green eyes. "I can't honestly say I know what you're feeling. You're going to have to fix this on your own."

Matt blinked, his eyebrows ducking and his lips tilting downwards with them. He stepped away from Mello, his throat tightening, though his arms were still linked around the blonde's neck. He didn't know what that meant, _alone. _Hadn't Mello said they were in this together?_  
_

"Matt." Mello said again, watching the hurt in the other's eyes. "I may not be able to fix it for you, but I'll be here for you. Talk to me. I want to help, okay?"

Matt nodded, twisting the tank top we was wearing between his fingers. "I'm... going to make you late." He sighed, grabbing Mello's school clothes from the hook on the back of the door and pushing them into the blonde's arms. "I should go."

Mello shook his head, motioning to the bath tub. "Don't want to waste water."

Matt tilted his head in confusion. Mello could just turn it off... then his lips quirked slightly as he understood. "Wouldn't want that."


End file.
